Understanding habitat requirements for captive breeding and conservation of the Goliath frog in Cameroon

The Goliath frog came into prominence in the early 19th century, and till date, recent studies show that the ecology is still understudied. The aim of this study is to determine major ecological and ethological patterns and their contributions to the abundance and breeding activity of the Goliath Frog. A descriptive ecological study was used in which data was collected on the ecological variables and the outcome (presence of frogs), used to describe associations (habitat characteristics) important in conservation and breeding. A non-probability purposive sampling technique was used, where villages included in the study were chosen. Information on ecological variables such as wind speed, precipitation and humidity was obtained on a daily basis using the weather App (weather.com/weather) installed on phones. Reproductive activities were estimated based on the signs of the presence of the frogs within the reproductive months such as nesting patterns. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 21.Findings indicate that at temperatures of 250C to 280C, the greatest numbers of frogs were seen (P 0.001).An increase in humidity levels resulted in the least number of frogs seen (P ≤ 0.219); that wind speed is not a variable of interest for the presence of the Goliath frog (P = 0.747); that the number of frogs increased with an increase in the amount of rainfall recorded over successive days (P 0.001). It was also seen that Goliath frogs mostly used water filled depressions encircled by rocks for nesting. The probability of finding frogs increased significantly in the thick bushes (CF = 2,6232; p  0,001), the possibility of finding the frogs increased significantly within the dry season(CF = 2,8769; p  0,1).This indicates that Goliath frogs are nocturnal and frog species that prefer undisturbed forests. These results are expected to improve knowledge on husbandry needs important in conservation programs.