At work: Ibu Risman (center) and team checks the stock of frogs
The supplier of amphibians to UM is Ibu Risman, and it's just a tiny slice of her business in Sambigede. The serious money comes from her frog abattoir, slaughtering and processing 200 kilograms of the little creatures every three days for human consumption overseas.
The amphibians are delivered in sacks and cut up soon after arrival. It takes about twelve frogs to make a kilogram.
In a covered yard alongside her house, three women squat on the floor. One beheads, another skins, pulling the leather off like a glove, while the third yanks out the stomach and trims what's left with a pair of scissors.
As they die the twitching frogs spread-eagle their bodies, exposing a white tummy. Nothing is wasted ' the heads and guts are used to feed fish and the skin is said to make a tasty cracker.
The frog legs are packed in ice and trucked to the city of Kediri where they are reprocessed for export.
While awaiting their fate the croakers stay silent, as though they know resistance is useless. Occasionally one leaps away, hiding behind plastic buckets and Styrofoam boxes. But the killer trio are deadly efficient and soon have the escapee in hand and ready for the knife.
Local men collect the frogs at night while wandering the paddy with spotlights strapped to their foreheads. A good session might yield one hunter five kilos of frogs. Risman also buys snakes, paying Rp 44,000 [US$ 3.50] a kilo.
Most are Enhydris plumbea, the rice paddy snake endemic to South Asia and not listed as endangered. They are killed for their skin and blood, which is used in traditional medicines along with the intestines. Occasionally the hunters bring in big pythons which get sold as pets.
Indonesia is reported to be the world's largest exporter of frogs for human consumption selling 5,000 tonnes a year, mainly to France, Belgium and the US. Although the food is haram [forbidden] to Muslims, frog leg soup known as swikee can be found in many restaurants in Indonesia serving Chinese food.
The good anecdotal evidence ' at least from this one village ' is that frog numbers aren't declining. The species is Hylarana erythraea, the Green paddy frog.
'I've been in this business since 1973 and there's no shortage,' said Ibu Risman. 'We can keep up with demand.'
- Duncan Graham
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