The Great Cane Toad Bust
How to help frogs and other wildlife in Australia over the next week.
Starting tonight, Monday January 24th, Watergum, a community group on Australia’s Gold Coast, is encouraging a national event known as “The Great Cane Toad Bust”. This event aims to reduce the size of the population of the introduced invasive species, Rhinella marina or Cane Toad, in Australia.
The Backstory
In 1935, 102 Cane Toads, native to South and mainland America and were released in Australia. They were introduced to help Sugar Cane farmers fight Cane Beetles that were devasting crops in Far North Queensland. It was a disaster!
Cane Beetles are found high on the stalks, too far up for predation by a species that can’t jump very high. The toads began to spread across Northern Australia with a current estimated population of more than 200 million advancing at around 50 kilometres a year.
Environmental Impact
The impact of this invasive species is twofold.
First, they compete for resources.
With female toads able to produce up to 70 000 eggs per year, they have the potential to “take over” areas very quickly. Most Australian frogs produce only 1000–2000 eggs per…