Cane Toads Forever

The cane toad story is one that we have followed with much interest and not a little amusement for a number of years .... whilst I am aware that the cane toads are not really a laughing matter .. the fact is that toads are essentially funny (toad of toad hall et al) in the Western culture.

So the latest cunning plan, which is to reintroduce the tadpoles of a small green frog, into the breeding ponds of the cane toads is mildly amusing ... apparently the tadpoles of this frog (a native to Australia), are better competitors for the food supply in the ponds than cane toad tadpoles, and it means that less cane toads reach a size big enough to leave the tadpole stage .... the green tree frog spawn can't actually eat the cane toad tadpoles, but the restriction in the food supply they cause, cuts their overall numbers.

Its been party time for Cane Toads

However I can't help thinking that a toad that migrates 40 km per annum, has so far crossed every barrier except total desert, and conquered the north east of Australia, is not going to be beaten back by some competitive tadpoles ..... so we won't hold our breath.

Cane Toad Burgers

Cane toads - I thought this story was finished with my last post on the subject, when it looked as though they were going to be sold to China ......

Cane Toads - Burgers

 

However those darn cane toads are still proving a problem and now its proposed to make "Caneburgers" for the local wild life, in order to 'teach them' that they are poisonous with out killing them off.

One suspects that this is not the last we will hear of these pesky toads ....

Solution To The Cane Toad Problem!

Finally a solution to the great Cane Toad problem .........eat them!

Yes finally the Chinese appetite for eating or using as medicine everything that walks, crawls, swims, wriggles or otherwise exists on the planet, may come in useful at last. This is because one enterprising businessman has finally spotted a gap in the market and the possibility of filling it with Australia's number one enemy, the Cane Toad!

Yes a representative from a Queensland meat processing firm is travelling to China next month to negotiate an export deal, to sell a large number of the estimated 200 million cane toads in Australia. It appears that in China the cane toad is a popular ingredient in a range of traditional medicines in China. Its toxins are used as a heart stimulant and as a diuretic as well a remedy for sinusitis and toothache. The animal's skin and organs are also thought to have powerful therapeutic qualities......... a bit like the Chinese views on every other living creature in fact.

Anyway, this is not the time to be churlish and despite the need to overcome various quarantine and licensing formalities before exports can begin, an end to the problem may just be in sight.

The Irresistible Cane Toads (Conquerers of the Outback).

The Problem: The Cane Toad (Bufo Marinus) is Australia’s greatest ever threat to native fauna since man arrived.

The History: Introduced as a pest control in the sugar cane fields in the 1930’s it spread quickly and finding no predators, has now reached approx 200 million spread over Northern Australia, and because the are

• Very poisonous (they have a toxic skin), and kill predators that eat or bite them, and
• Voracious predators and will eat anything that they can get their mouths round e.g. Small mammals, insects, fish, Chihuahuas etc etc.
• The breed like hell, and with no predators the young survive in massive numbers.

 

They are a very real threat to native species diversity. They have few predators in their native Hawaii and are controlled by illness, rather than Hawaiians species. Introducing new bacteria’s would be risky and in any case their range is too great now.