Continue reading "Western Australian Cane Toad Plan available now for comment" »
Continue reading "Western Australian Cane Toad Plan available now for comment" »
Posted on June 03, 2009 in Cane toads | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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.
Posted on April 27, 2009 in Cane toads | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
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.
Posted on April 09, 2009 in Cane toads | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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.
Posted on March 02, 2009 in Cane toads | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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 kin
d of doubt toad-sniffing Nifty who finds toads for destruction, will find a new occupation sniffing out toads for the table.
Posted on October 14, 2008 in Cane toads | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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.
Posted on October 19, 2007 in Cane toads | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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.
Posted on September 10, 2007 in Cane toads | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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.
Posted on August 24, 2007 in Cane toads | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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
Posted on August 02, 2007 in Cane toads, In the media | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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.
Posted on August 02, 2007 in Cane toads | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)



Recent Comments