A week-long campaign to remove cane toads from local ecosystems begins tomorrow, 17 January and will continue into next week.
Watergum Community, a Gold Coast-based not-for-profit environmental organisation, hosts cane toad busting events annually, encouraging people state and country-wide to humanely remove highly invasive cane toads from local ecosystems.
Locals can sign up to attend cane toad-busting events in Logan or create their own via a link posted on Watergum Community’s website.
Last year’s events saw the removal of 199,231 cane toads in one week. Watergum Community said they hoped the record would be broken by this year’s participants.
About 102 cane toads were introduced in 1935 to control cane beetle populations, a number that has now climbed to over 200 million, Watergum Community said.
Invasive species manager at Watergum Community, Emily Straton, said community involvement in the form of cane toad busting and tadpole trapping was one of the most effective tools to reduce local populations of cane toads.
“Research has shown that a single coordinated bust can remove up to 47% of a local toad population in just one night,” Ms Straton said.
“That’s why every cane toad removed, whether it is adults, tadpoles or eggs, has real impact.
“With enough people taking part, these numbers can scale to real, lasting ecological benefits.”
A cane toad busting event hosted by Logan City Council and run by Watergum Community’s invasive species team will be held at Berrinba Wetlands in Browns Plains from 6.30pm to 8.30pm on 23 January.
Before the busting begins, participants will learn how to identify cane toads at different stages of their lifecycle, how to safely and humanely catch them and how they can improve habitats for native frogs in their own backyards, Watergum said.
Then it’ll be game on to catch as many cane toads as possible, which Watergum Community will humanely euthanise.
Over 240 species of frog are native to Australia, and some frogs can look similar. Watergum Community said it’s important to know what to look for when identifying cane toads.
Some distinctive features of cane toads that separate them from other frog species include eggs laid in “long jelly lines”, jet black tadpoles with clear tail frills that swarm together, and young or adult toads with a pronounced M-shaped ridge over their nose.
Local cane toad busters struggling to identify the species can view Watergum Community’s cane toad identification guide or send an email with an image of the toad to canetoads@watergum.org for identification.
In line with the University of Sydney’s research and RSPCA Guidelines, Watergum Community follows a stepped hypothermia method to euthanise cane toads, of every life stage, humanely.
The process involves putting the cane toad in a fridge for at least 24 hours, where they will fall into a natural state similar to hibernation, called torpor, where their pain receptors will be switched off.
Moving the cane toad into the freezer for another 24 to 48 hours will kill them.
“After the event, we hope participants will walk away feeling well informed about cane toads and how to improve their backyards to encourage native species,” a Watergum Community spokesperson said.
“We also hope it inspires people to continue cane toad busting to help make a real difference to their local area or even just their backyard.”
To get involved in can toad bust events, visit Watergum Community’s website, www.watergum.org/greatcanetoadbust.
