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Cane Toad Threats and Control

The cane toad is a large, poisonous toad native to South and Central America. It was introduced to Australia in 1935 in an attempt to control beetles, but became an invasive species. Cane toads secrete a potent toxin from glands on their backs that can kill predators and small animals that try to eat them. They have few natural predators in Australia and have spread widely, negatively impacting native species and ecosystems. Cane toads continue to be a major pest that is difficult to control.

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78 views3 pages

Cane Toad Threats and Control

The cane toad is a large, poisonous toad native to South and Central America. It was introduced to Australia in 1935 in an attempt to control beetles, but became an invasive species. Cane toads secrete a potent toxin from glands on their backs that can kill predators and small animals that try to eat them. They have few natural predators in Australia and have spread widely, negatively impacting native species and ecosystems. Cane toads continue to be a major pest that is difficult to control.

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Cane Toad

Rhinella marina

Most of their diet consists of insects such as beetles, honey bees, ants, winged
termites, and crickets, but they also sometimes eat marine snails, native frogs, small
toads, snakes, and small mammals such as cats and dogs.

Least wanted!
The toads niche is located in australia. The cane toad
is poisonous. Their poison glands are located on the
back of his head. The toad has wart-like lumps on the
back of his legs and arms. They are relatively large,
they can reach up to 23 centimeters in length. The
cane toads' role in a food web is to naturally generate
potent toxins throughout their bodies, which kills any
animal that is attempting to eat them. Cane toads typically live in sand dunes and
coastal grasslands, rainforests and mangroves. The cane toad takes over areas easily and
adapt quickly because of the characteristics they contain, for example “ Toads may look
like a juicy meal to predators, but they contain enough venom to take down a large
crocodile” and “Toads can live partly on dry land so they aren't confined to tropical
climates. Their ballooning body size stores water to prevent dehydration during treks
across the outback. Toads even have a type of energy-storing fat to spark their long
journeys”. Cane toads were brought here because they were introduced to control
destructive beetles. They travel very quickly, they can travel up to 1.8 kilometers a night.
Cane toads can create a rate of decline and extinction to other plants and animals. For
example “their toxin is strong enough to kill most native animals that normally eat frogs
or frog eggs, including birds, other frogs, reptiles and mammals.” Cane frogs can also
affect humans by “bufotoxin, which contains several different chemicals, such as
bufagin, which affects the heart, and bufotenine, a hallucinogen.” This shows that the
frogs are extremely poisonous and can really harm
plants, animals and humans. If the frogs are found
you can eliminate the population by exposing them to
carbon dioxide, this method is a 100% success rate. To
control the cane toad population the government
could get long strings of cane toad eggs from the
water or dispose of adult cane toads.

Bibliography
"Cane Toad | National Geographic." Animals,
www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/amphibians/facts/cane-toad#:~:text=Cane%20toads
%20secrete%20a%20milky,,%20and%20bufotenine,%20a%20hallucinogen. Accessed 11 Mar.
2022.

"Cane toads." NSW Environment, Energy and Science,


www.environment.nsw.gov.au/topics/animals-and-plants/pest-animals-and-weeds/pest-animals/
cane-toads. Accessed 11 Mar. 2022.

Israel, Brett. "Cane Toads Invade, Conquer Australia." livescience.com, 24 June 2010,
www.livescience.com/29560-cane-toad-conquest-invades-australia.html.

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