Essay Database

These toads were being used successfully in the Caribbean islands and in Hawaii to combat the cane beetle, a pest of sugar cane crops. After good reviews from overseas, Hawaii shipped a box of toads to Gordonvale, just south of Cairns. These were held in captivity for awhile and then they were released into the sugar cane fields of the tropic north. It was later discovered that the toads can't jump very high so they …

…native animals are learning to avoid eating them. Other animals have shown they can eat the toad such as the Keelback Snake, Water Rats, Ibis, Crows and some other birds. We are still a long way from controlling the toads' numbers or putting a stop to their expansion. Like the feral cat, they have provided a painful lesson in what can happen to native species when an exotic species is introduced to a new habitat.