Puerto Ricans denounce that American tourists are trying to ‘silence’ the song of the coquí, the island’s endemic and endangered frog

When the sun sets in Puerto Rico, a concert begins, with thousands and thousands of frogs singing “coquí, coquí” until dawn. It’s the sound of a small amphibian, named after that iconic call, which is endemic to the island and under threat: three of its 17 species have already disappeared, and four others are endangered. The main culprit is climate change, but recently the frogs are also facing another aggressor: tourists. A social media post about a traveler searching for a “spray” to silence the coquíes has sparked a wave of outrage among Puerto Ricans, for whom the frog is a symbol of identity, but also of their resistance to a crisis of excess tourism and gentrification that is forcing the displacement of their people and the death of their wildlife.

The controversy began a couple of weeks ago, after a Reddit user shared a post in a forum with over 750,000 members dedicated to tourism in Puerto Rico. The tourist asked for help dealing with the “noisy” coquíes: “I overheard a couple at a restaurant in Condado (in San Juan, the capital) talking about spraying at their Airbnb to keep the frogs from croaking all night long as they are extremely loud, and they said it worked. I didn’t catch what type of product it was and they left before I got a chance to ask them, and I haven’t found anything online or in stores. Anyone know what they might be using? I definitely would like to get some, I love nature, but my God, those things are so loud at night and a little annoying.”

The post thread, which was later deleted, quickly filled with responses from Puerto Ricans outraged by what they considered not only an attack on an endangered native species, but also a show of disrespect toward the island’s culture. The issue has gone beyond Reddit, where the tourist appears to have deleted their account. Comments such as “If you don’t like the sound of the coquí, get out of Puerto Rico,” “Does anyone know of a spray to keep gringos away from Puerto Rico?” and “Educate yourself and respect our home” have appeared on Instagram, TikTok, and X. Even Bad Bunny, a global star and a source of pride for the island, joined in the criticism and posted on his Instagram story the part of his song LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAIi where the frog’s call can be heard.

It’s hard to know for certain what product the tourist was referring to. Most likely, it was some kind of chemical — such as a pesticide or bleach — that is killing the coquíes, not just silencing them, explains Rafael Joglar. The professor and researcher in the Department of Biology at the University of Puerto Rico has been studying the frog for over five decades and is the founder of Proyecto Coquí, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and research of amphibians and reptiles. “Our group is very alarmed because we’re concerned about continuing to lose more species. We have a delicate situation in Puerto Rico with the coquíes,” he says over the phone.

According to the expert, if the coquí stops singing, it stops communicating and therefore does not reproduce. And if it doesn’t reproduce, it gradually disappears — as three coquí species already have. Only the male sings, and he actually produces two distinct notes: the “co” and the “quí.” “The ‘co’ is to warn other nearby males not to enter his territory. It’s a sound that only males can hear,” Joglar explains. As for the “quí,” it’s a sound only females can hear, and “it’s an invitation for a night of romance.”

The human ear, however, picks up both sounds in the repeated “coquí, coquí” that continues throughout the night. The song sometimes varies — if, for example, two males are communicating, they repeat only the “co.” Or if a female approaches, the frog emphasizes the “quí.” “They’re very intelligent animals,” Joglar notes. “They position themselves in strategic spots. They get into house windows, for instance, or into tree trunks, to create an amplification effect. It’s as if they’re looking for microphones.”

The researcher acknowledges that the sound can be difficult for foreigners visiting the island to get used to, especially when trying to sleep. “We’re used to these animals culturally, socially, and even physiologically, to the point that we barely hear them. We don’t even realize they’re singing. But for someone arriving here for the first time, the sound is very loud. And I know of people who kill them,” he says. Joglar hasn’t been able to identify what the supposed spray to silence them is, but he confirms that in his years of research, he has come across cases of tourists killing coquíes.

The tourist as an “invasive species”

Violence toward the coquí is happening within the context of excessive tourism on the island, which has created a housing and displacement crisis particularly driven by American tourists. Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, and its inhabitants are U.S. citizens, but they cannot vote for the president and lack meaningful representation in Congress. The island has its own local government, which, along with the federal government, has for decades promoted the gentrification of the Caribbean territory by offering tax incentives to investors and tourists in exchange for relocating to Puerto Rico and buying land, buildings, homes, schools... This has caused housing prices to skyrocket and made the island increasingly uninhabitable for locals.

That’s why so many Puerto Ricans have seen themselves reflected in the attacks against the coquí. For Arturo Massol Deyá, a biologist at the University of Puerto Rico, the desire to spray coquíes “is very symbolic of what an invasive species represents.” An invasive species is one that is introduced into an ecosystem different from its natural habitat and causes harm in its new environment. “When you think about the coquí and recognize that this is its natural ecosystem, you have to ask: who is the one in the wrong place? And the one in the wrong place is not the coquí. That is a natural treasure and a national treasure,” the expert says over the phone.

“If the sound bothers you, it’s because clearly you’re not from here. It symbolizes how these people come to occupy these spaces and are bothered by the coquí, by Puerto Ricans, and by our culture. And just like they want to spray the coquí, they’d spray Puerto Ricans too,” says the executive director of Casa Pueblo, a community self-management organization that fights for the conservation of local natural resources and promotes the use of solar energy. “The problem isn’t the coquí; it’s the invader who is in the wrong place with an attitude that everything can be solved through extermination.”

Faced with this reality, Massol Deyá emphasizes the importance of educating tourists about the island’s natural attributes and the need to protect them: “Puerto Rico has great potential to attract a different kind of tourism. Because I believe that people from other places coming to learn about and enjoy the country’s wildlife is precisely one of the qualities that can attract visitors and contribute to the country’s development.” Joglar, from Proyecto Coquí, agrees: “If a gringo comes and the coquíes bother him, we can teach him. And if it still bothers you, just put in some earplugs and that’s it.”

Joglar is more concerned about what climate change means for this species. “Amphibians worldwide are extremely threatened, and the main threat is climate change. That is the real danger for the coquí,” he asserts. The expert denounces that in Puerto Rico, the local government is increasingly promoting the use of natural gas and carbon, while in Washington, the current president is also expanding the use of fossil fuels. “Convincing the gringo tourist not to bother them anymore isn’t that complicated, but convincing Governor Jenniffer González and President Donald Trump to use renewable energy? That’s impossible. And it’s leading to a massacre of coquíes,” he warns.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition