Despite its status as an evolutionary marvel, Conraua goliath is categorized as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. The species faces persistent hunting pressure across its fragmented river corridors.
In regional markets throughout Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea, a mature Goliath frog commands premium prices, often selling for $15 to $20 USD each. Local communities view the meat as a culinary delicacy and an esteemed gift during cultural ceremonies. Hunters target the species at night using powerful headlamps and harpoons or specialized traps woven from forest vines and submerged near waterfall bases.
Because the frogs take several years to reach their full mass and sexual maturity, harvesting adult breeding stock causes population crashes in affected river drainages. Decades of unmanaged exploitation, paired with past captures for the international pet trade and illegal exotic animal collections, have eradicated the frog from dozens of historical streams.
