Feral Thoughts

Have your say on the cane toad plan - only a week to go.

 Cane toads are the public's Feral Enemy Number 1. More Australians place the cane toad in their "top five" ferals than any other species - in fact 9 out of 10 do so. It's a clear winner from the next highest rated feral, the cat, with 7 out of 10 putting that species in their top five.

Opinions vary widely on what to do about the toad. I once spent an hour of my life with a fellow who was deadly serious that a $40 million fence from the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf at the top of Western Australia to the Tanami Desert was the answer. This is some of the most rugged country on earth, so I expressed a fair bit of doubt. What about the fires that burn that part of the world every 18 months? "It would need to be a substantial fence". What about the massive tidal zone up there - it's not that far from the horizontal waterfall with legendary tides, and before being the cane toad, it was the marine toad Bufo marinus? "We'd run the fence 3-500 metres into the sea". What about the wet season when massive floods occur? "Again, it'd have to be a substantial fence". This last answer, given like I had obvious learning difficulties, meant I finally gave up wished him luck.

Kudos to toad spotters in Cairns

  Thanks are due to two Cairns stevedores from Northern Stevedores Services for alerting AQIS to a couple of black spined toads from the ship Territory Trader last week.

The cluey stevedores spotted the tiny toads and called in quarantine authorities. The ship had traveled to Cairns from West Papua.

The black-spined toad is a species found in India, China and southern Asia, and is closely related to the cane toad. Black-spined toads have a ‘Serious’ establishment risk rank, meaning there is a high-level risk of a population establishing in the Australian environment. If they were to establish here, they could compete with native frogs for food and possibly poison animals that ingest them. Black-spined toads can live in a wider temperature range than cane toads and are highly adaptable, making them a significant biosecurity threat to Australia.

The tiny spiny find highlights the need for invasive species risk assessments and biosecurity vigilance at Australia’s high-risk entry points. Australia's quarantine service is excellent but it needs the assistance of the public and people like the NSS stevedores to provide the coverage we need.

Posted by Tony Peacock, founder of 'Feral Thoughts'

Bounties raised: foxes in Victoria; toads in the Northern Territory

The issue of bounties has come up again, as it often does in pest animal management. I've blogged before on why groups like the Australasian Wildlife Management Society don't support bounties. But there is no doubt it tends to be a polarizing debate - farmers like and support bounties but scientists in the field don't. Why such a difference of views? In my experience, farmers tend to know what's best on their farm and it is hard to find a farmer that doesn't support bounties. On the other hand, it would be hard to find a scientist that does support bounties.

ABC's Stateline program in Victoria did a story on the issue last Friday night, following a pledge from the Victorian Opposition to reinstate a bounty on both foxes and wild dogs in that State if they win the upcoming election. The story shows some of the complicating factors: for example, dogs are a major concern around baiting programs. The labour shortage on farms means that working dogs are critical and they can have a very high dollar value as well as the obvious other values to farmers. Another reason is probably that when you shoot foxes, you see the immediate result whereas baiting doesn't provide that satisfaction.

Kimberley Toad Busters thoughts on the cane toad threat abatement plan

The following remarks from Kimberley Toad Busters came in as a comment on my recent post on the cane toad threat abatement plan. But sometimes the comments get a bit lost and are harder to find later, so I'm posting the remarks as an article in themselves. KTB have done quite remarkable things in the Kimberley and have certainly earned the right to be listened to - I'll also endorse the remarks that it is a part of the world well worth exploring. Unfortunately this trip was again way too short and I'm determined to get the family up there at some stage.

Also, I shouldn't really be credited as "author" of the threat abatement plan. I helped the Department prepare it, but a number of people helped shape it and then it has gone through the Threatened Species Scientific Committee several times and they are the authoritative group that provides advice to the Minister. I do agree with the end product, but encourage anyone to have their say.

Kimberley Toad Busters said…..

Many thanks to Tony for attending the Caring for the Kimberley Environmental Forum held in Kununurra on the 19th – 21st March 2010, we understand Tony spent more time traveling than actually at the forum and appreciate this effort as part of a busy schedule. Tony has made many contributions on behalf of the Government on cane toads including the first Cane Toad Forum organised by Kimberley Specialists and held in Kununurra in March 2005. It was after this forum, after learning of their impacts on wildlife and how little was known about cane toad behaviour, the community decided to form Kimberley Toad Busters. Tony is an author of the recently released TAP, these comments are by no means directed as criticism of Tony’s work, and are only suggestions how data collected by community can fill gaps in scientific knowledge and assist in informing a process like the TAP.

Kimberley Toad Busters has always been as much about gathering information to help scientists find controls for cane toads as ‘toad busting’, hence the large volume of newsletters and cane toad observations published on the website www.canetoads.com.au. Every cane toad caught has had key features including sex and length recorded, samples are dissected for analysis of Lung Worm parasite infection and stomach contents, every ‘toad busting’ trip has a field report of key activities and observations. Many scientific projects have been supported by the efforts of the volunteers. Education is a major role of Kimberley Toad Busters, throughout the Kimberley and WA, especially cane toad identification and the recorded impacts on wildlife. The result over 5 years is a remarkable example of education and community coming together to achieve action on an environmental issue.

What to do about the toad - opinions vary widely

The Australian Minister for the Environment, Peter Garrett, has released a draft Threat Abatement Plan (TAP) for cane toads. It is available for comment for the next three months. I spoke about the plan at the Caring for the Kimberley forum in Kununurra last Friday, to mixed response.

One member of the Kimberley ToadBusters Group put it this way, using the threat abatement plan acronym: "You are turning off the TAP, with this TAP"*.  He was fearful, as were most members of the community group that has disposed of over half a million toads in the past six years, that the threat abatement plan would lead to reduced funding for toad busting.

China eager for our cane toads | News.com.au

Charleville meat processor John Burey is hoping the cane toad's medicinal qualities will help him secure a huge export deal when he travels to Beijing for trade talks next month.  "At this stage, it would seem the demand for our cane toads is quite substantial," he said. The Chinese have used toad poison as an expectorant, heart stimulant and as a diuretic. It has also been used as a remedy for toothache and sinusitis.Mr Burey said cane toad meat was also popular.

"The skin, organs and gut are also used for traditional medicines," he said.It could help rid the state of a population believed to have exceeded more than 200 million since its infamous introduction to control the sugar cane beetle in 1935.

Mr Burey said an export deal could result in collection depots being established up and down the Queensland coast." It would be like collecting aluminium cans, people could bring them to us and we would pay per animal or per kilo," he said. Mr Burey said his company, United Game Processors, already processed kangaroo, pig, camel, donkey and buffalo meat, but wanted to come up with something different. He has met with Queensland Primary Industries and Fisheries staff about paperwork needed to export the animals. He said the toad toxin was considered a class one drug - like heroin - and he needed a special permit to send it overseas.

via www.news.com.au

Deja vu...

Posted by Tony Peacock, founder of 'Feral Thoughts'

Western Australian Cane Toad Plan available now for comment

The Government of Western Australia has produced an extensive State Cane Toad plan that is currently open for comment.  The invitation to comment is open until 25 June 2009.

Cane toads have only just entered Western Australia, almost three quarters of a century after introduction in north Queensland.  It is expected that they will continue to move across the top end of the State and end up inhabiting most of the Kimberley region.  The Pilbara region will probably stop their expansion south due to lack of water, but at least one study indicates a range that could take in Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney.

We certainly discriminate against certain species: toads, quolls, crocs, snails and snakes

Northern quoll, snails, crocodiles and snakes are each badly affected by the cane toad.  But our reaction to each differs considerably.  It's not unusual; humans form different views on animals all the time: eating any type of meat is off the agenda for many people whereas some people might draw a line at eating dogmeat.

The cane toad is a fascinating study.  Nine out of ten Australians rate the toad in their "top 5" ferals if asked (the next feral of concern if the cat at 7 out of 10).  But in general, invasive animal scientists probably don't rate the cane toad in their "top 5". As far as we know, cane toads have never caused an extinction, they don't cause any measurable agricultural damage and most species tend to recover from the initial toad invasion.  The fact that they are ugly and pretty common, so lots of people have had a personal encounter, are probably two of the reasons they occupy top spot.

Killing cane toads: if in doubt, leave it be.

Canberra's first cane toad was reported last week.  A rushed series of emails "...toad identified from a backyard in northern Canberra...".  It had to be a toad because the identifying vet was from Queensland.

First thought: "hitchhiker".

Second thought: "is climate change that bad? The tropics are coming to Canberra?".

Third thought: "Is it really a cane toad?"

Turns out thought number three was the right one.  I rushed to the vet clinic, smelling a front page story, and literally arrived with the photographer from the Canberra Times.  I'm no frog expert, but I immediately knew it wasn't a cane toad.  No big poison parotid glands, a white strip on the cheeks and hind feet that just didn't look toady.

Unfortunately we think it was a fatal case of mistaken identity.  The "toad" appears to be a Giant Burrowing Frog Heleioporus australiacus.  Listed as vulnerable nationally and in NSW and threatened in Victoria but its range isn't meant to extend to the Australian Capital Territory (hope it wasn't the only one). I'm happy for those more expert to guide me on that identification.

Lesson: if in doubt, leave it alone.  Killing a toad or two isn't going to make any difference to toad populations anywhere.  Frogs need the all the help they can get. 

Cane toads finally cross into Western Australia

The westward march of the cane toad continues and the sad but inevitable cross into Western Australia has now happened.  A couple of years ago, I did a report for the then Minister for the Environment and Conservation in WA and concluded, like most people, that it was unavoidable that toads would eventually move into Western Australia (get a copy of the report here).

While it was predictable, it is still really sad as a lot of wildlife will die as they encounter toads.  But the devastation is probably not as bad as we once thought. Professor Rick Shine's team from the University of Sydney have continued to study the impact of toads.  Importantly, they've been doing an inventory of potential impacts by testing wildlife from the Kimberley at the University's Fogg Dam Research Centre in the Northern Territory.  They've done this work with Dr. Dave Pearson and others from the WA Department of Environment and Conservation.

As I understand the Sydney Uni/WA DEC team's results, they tend to give us cause for hope.  Most wildlife will adapt.  Some might never touch toads, others evolve and others learn.  It's one of those "good news/bad news" type of situations you hear of in doctor jokes - you'd rather you weren't faced with either possibility.

I noted in the media release from WA that it ended like a lot of toad releases have over the years - with the hope that research will uncover a biological control agent.  CSIRO gave up many years ago looking for one in South American and a year ago they finished up trying to develop a genetically altered one.  Few options are on the books.  Again, Shine's lab is the closest to any solution.  They've identified a little lungworm that knocks the toads about.  Basically, they are like a smoker - they can't run as far or as fast and they die earlier.  The toads on the "western front" have out run the parasite and could be very susceptible to it.  Moreover, the parasite appears to have accompanied the toads to Australia and thus are probably quite limited in their genetics - perhaps they could be "refreshed" from the toad's native range in South America.

Biological control is hard work and controversial.  In vertebrates, myxoma virus and rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (calicivirus) are basically it.  It would be a matter of the risk/reward for such a venture.

I think we need to turn to those species that are going to do badly with the toads coming their way.  We know up to half the freshwater crocodiles can be killed by toads.  What of the "pygmy" population on Bullo River Station?  It would be good to see them protected. 

You guessed it: Cane Toad "tastes like chicken"

A month or so ago, I got a phone call asking if I'd ever eaten cane toad.  The caller wasn't really interested in the taste, but the safety - would eating a toad kill you?

Knowing the limits of my public liability insurance, I replied that, no, I hadn't eaten a toad and I wouldn't venture an opinion on the safety of doing so.  However, I'd make a fair bet that toad "tastes like chicken".

Bizarre Foods, an American cable TV show has been in Australia's Top End recently and taken the plunge, reports News Limited http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,24452062-17001,00.html  As predicted, Erin Britton, a coordinator for FrogWatch said the toads "tasted like chicken".  Apparently only bigger toads had enough meat on them and they were a bit sinewy around the joints.  The Bizarre Foods chef took the skin off to avoid the toxins.

Hmmm, I'd still say the best way to avoid toad toxin is not to eat them.

Kimberley Toadbusters recently reported that cane toads were now extremely close to the Western Australian border, as well as to a possibly unique dwarf freshwater crocodile population.  It's a pity our wildlife don't get to eat the toads skinned and in a garlic and white wine sauce.

I kind of doubt toad-sniffing Nifty who finds toads for destruction, will find a new occupation sniffing out toads for the table.

Fijian Cane Toad Song

Cane toads certainly stir the emotions.  Holidaying in Fiji, we were delighted to hear that one of the songs taught at kids club was a Fijian children's tale of cane toads.  The barman explained the words to me as essentially that "cane toads came to Fiji and one has a thousand babies; on his back there is poison, poison, poison".  I'm sure there's more to the song than that and would appreciate a complete translation.

Interestingly, it seemed to be accepted as a fact by indigenous Fijians that the cane toad had been introduced by the Indians indentured to work in the sugar cane industry.  This is a myth.  The indenture system stopped in 1916 whereas cane toads were introduced from the mid 1930s along the same reasoning as in Hawaii and Australia - the wrong interpretation that cane toads controlled white-grub in Puerto Rico after their introduction in 1920. 

Many thanks to the Island Serenders at Treasure Island Resort for singing this version for me.

A bloated toad

Download P9020207.JPG The Kimberley Toadbusters are out every weekend (at least) removing toads from the invasive front in the Northern Territory.  They can now bring dead toads back into Western Australia and tare making interesting specimens available to researchers.  This toad was found highly bloated and was preserved for interested researchers or pathologists to examine.

Perth lawyer Sandy Boulter is passionate about the Kimberley environment and runs Friends of KTB.  Her email is sandraboulter@westnet.com.au if you are interested in learning more.

Cane toad song

We hear more in the news about the western front of toads, now very close to the border of Western Australia.  However, there is a dedicated group of rangers working in Northern NSW to keep the toads at bay on their southern front.  A clever interpretation officer, Kerry Cooper, came up with this song and her kids are the wonderful voices.

The toad call is clearly heard.  The males call to attract the females down to the water's edge.

HopStop, parasites and pheromones spark media interest

A recent seminar hosted by the Invasive Animals CRC on advances in cane toad research sparked a frenzy of media attention.  Pestat Pty Ltd, one of the CRC's participant companies revealed development of a lethal spray - HopStop - which they are seeking to register for household use.  Sydney Uni's Rick Shine revealed latest research on a lungworm, Rhabdias, that debilitates cane toads and might be useful for slowing down their advance across the Top End.  Queensland Uni's Rob Capon explained how his lab is unravelling the chemical ecology of the toad, trying to find chinks in its armour.  Collaboration between these two universities is leading to the unravelling of an alarm pheromone emitted by distressed cane toad tadpoles. 

Some of the media response is shown below.

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,21969125-5005941,00.html

http://www.abc.net.au/canberra/stories/s1963235.htm

http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2007/s1963370.htm

http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/worm-a-chink-in-the-cane-toads-armour/2007/04/27/1177459966993.html

A gruesome sight

I recently went out for a day with the Kimberley Toad Busters, a community group trying to stop the cane taod getting from the Northern Territory into Western Australia.  I found this toad at Gregory's Tree in the NT.  He had probably been burnt in a grassfire and pecked at by a bird.  Nevertheless, he was very much alive and a testament to the resiliance of individual toads.  Presumably he would have eventually starved to death.