More than 500 cane toads were caught at Archerfield Wetlands as part of a week-long country-wide campaign to remove cane toads from local ecosystems, which was held in the final week of January.
Watergum Community, a Gold Coast-based not-for-profit environmental organisation, runs the campaign dubbed the ‘Great Cane Toad Bust’ annually, encouraging locals and organisations to host their own events to humanely remove highly invasive cane toads from local ecosystems.
Oxley Creek Catchment Association (OCCA), which hosted the local cane toad busting event at Archerfield Wetlands Community Hub on Saturday, 17 January, said 41 locals showed up at sunset with a bucket, gloves and a torch.
From there, the group trudged through the wetland,s catching adult cane toads and returning to the hub with their findings.
Lindsay Wickson, OCCA’s partnerships officer, said this was the first time the association had run the event.
“Events like the annual cane toad bust are important to local ecosystems because they raise awareness, build local stewardship and empower people to take practical action in support of native wildlife,” Ms Wickson said.
“While cane toad busts won’t eradicate cane toads entirely, regular and coordinated efforts can make a difference at a local scale, especially in sensitive habitats such as wetlands, creeks and urban bushland.”
Watergum Community said they hoped the record would be broken by this year’s participants. Last year’s events saw the removal of 199,231 cane toads in all stages of life, including 71,500 adult cane toads in one week nationwide.
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.
Ms Wickham said locals who participated in OCCA’s event at Archerfield were taught about the environmental effects of cane toads, before and during the cane toad hunt.
“Throughout OCCA’s event, participants learned about cane toad biology, their introduction and history in Australia, and the ongoing impact cane toads have on native wildlife,” she 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 a real impact.
“With enough people taking part, these numbers can scale to real, lasting ecological benefits.”
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 who struggled to identify the species using Watergum Community’s cane toad identification guide were invited to send an email with an image of the toad to canetoads@watergum.org for expert 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.
Watergum said they hoped the events and broader awareness campaign would inspire people to continue cane toad busting in their backyard or local area and make a real difference in nearby ecosystems.
