What Is The link between Leonardo DiCaprio And This Calicut Man

A post-doctoral researcher from Calicut University Dr Sandeep Das is on top of the world as Hollywood actor and environment activist Leonardo DiCaprio posted the picture of the Galaxy Frog on his Instagram handle shot by Das.

The actor used the picture to show that climate change has become the main driver of amphibian decline globally.

Expressing his excitement over Leo's post, Das said he was very happy that an international celebrity like DiCaprio used the photograph of a threatened frog shot by him at Thekkady in Kerala on his Instagram handle which would help grab the attention to the rising threats and conservation of amphibians.

Das further asserted that he was happy as Leo shared the photograph of the Galaxy Frog on his Instagram handle after giving the photo credits to him.

According to Das, the second Global Amphibian Assessment (GAA2) reveals the ratio of amphibians worldwide continues to deteriorate with 40.7 per cent (2,873) in 2022 which is a global threat compared with 37.9 per cent (2,681) in 1980 and 39.4 per cent (2,788) in 2004 when the GAA1 was held.

To be more precise, climate change had a huge impact on the extinction of the species during 2004-2022, with 119 species (39 per cent) affected compared with six species from 1980-2004.

However, according to the study, these threatened species are still found in the Western Ghats along with Caribbean islands, Mesoamerica, the Tropical Andes, the mountains and forests of western Cameroon and eastern Nigeria, Madagascar and Sri Lanka.

Das is a postdoctoral fellow at the CU Zoology Department. He is among the 123-member team of scientists from across the world who conducted the landmark Global Amphibian Assessment 2 (GAA2) study that was been published in science journal Nature on Wednesday.