A rare species of Ecuadorian stream frog has been named Hyloscirtus princecharlesi in recognition of The Prince of Wales's efforts to safeguard the world’s rainforests.
And The Prince said, at an event he hosted at Highgrove as President of the World Wildlife Fund, that he will now have to battle even harder in his conservation work following the unusual honour.
Posing for photos with a number of schoolchildren and a glass replica of the frog on his shoulder, His Royal Highness also joked “the things I do for frogs”.
The Prince was presented with a commemorative gold medal along with the brown and orange frog replica by the Ecuadorian scientist who discovered the amphibian.
The Prince said: “I’m very touched. It’s very nice. I have a lump in my throat, it must be a frog.”
“That’s wonderful, I will treasure that,” he said about the glass frog. “I shall battle even harder now.”
Dr Luis A Coloma discovered the brown-coloured amphibian with large orange blotches four years ago among preserved museum specimens.
The academic later took part in an expedition to a national park in his homeland and found three live adults and some tadpoles.
The Prince met Dr Coloma today at an environmental-themed workshop His Royal Highness was hosting for young schoolchildren from across the country at Highgrove, his Gloucestershire home.
Dr Coloma told The Prince it was one of the most beautiful frogs he has seen.
“It is a nocturnal frog that climbs on the branches during night and lives on very fast running streams, close to cascades,” Dr Coloma said.
“We don’t know much about these frogs yet, the next step after naming the species will be to study its biology.
“I think he (The Prince) was very happy with the name and especially to see such a beautiful frog have his name.”
Dr Coloma added: “The Prince has been a very active campaigner to save tropical rainforests and of course the frogs live inside the forests and he has been using frogs as symbols for his rainforest campaign.”
Amphibian Ark, which works to ensure the survival of endangered frogs, newts and salamanders, decided to name the new species after The Prince.
A spokesman said: “It is endangered and needs to be protected in the wild, its rainforest habitat is under threat due to the impact of farming.”
He added: “It’s fairly unusual to name a new species after someone but this is seen as something special in honour of The Prince.”
The Prince has been campaigning for decades to help save the world’s remaining rainforests, giving major speeches in the rainforest nations of Brazil and Indonesia on the subject.
He also established his Prince’s Rainforest Project to help find a viable financial solution to the problem of deforestation, and starred with an animated frog in a video to highlight the issue.
Source: PrinceOfWales.gov.uk
