Cane Toads (Bufo marinus)
Cane toads are large, robust amphibians which are native to Central and South America. They are extremely hardy animals and voracious predators of insects and other small prey. These are the qualities that led to their introduction to Australia as a means of controlling pest beetles in the sugar cane industry in 1935, before the use of agricultural chemicals became widespread.
Cane toads are capable of poisoning predators that try to eat them and they continue to spread across Australia. There is no broadscale way to control this pest but scientists are developing a better understanding of the impacts they have on the environment and the ways in which assets, such as rare and vulnerable wildlife, can be protected.
How the Australian Government is dealing with a national problem
Cane Toad (Bufo marinus) Threat Abatement Plan
In 2005 ‘The biological effects, including lethal toxic ingestion, caused by Cane Toads (Bufo marinus)’ was listed as a key threatening process under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). The Australian Government has published a threat abatement plan to set out the research, management and other actions necessary to reduce the impact of cane toads and to maximise the chances of long-term survival, in nature, of native species and ecological communities affected by cane toads.
Caring for our Country
The Australian Government cane toad commitment provided more than $2.3 million over three years (2008-09 to 2010-11) to reduce the impacts of cane toads and to develop a national cane toad plan. Through these investments under the Caring for our County initiative, the Government has assisted with funding for targeted on-ground control work, as well as research and development of sustainable control measures. The Government will continue to work with regional natural resource management organisations and with state and territory governments to achieve outcomes for our environment. Further information on the Caring for our Country initiative is available at: www.nrm.gov.au/business-plan
Key threatening process under the EPBC Act
The biological effects, including lethal toxic ingestion, caused by Cane Toads (Bufo marinus) are listed as a key threatening process under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).
- The biological effects, including lethal toxic ingestion, caused by Cane Toads (Bufo marinus) - Listed key threatening process
The Australian Government has developed a threat abatement plan to set out the research, management and other actions necessary to reduce the key threatening process concerned to an acceptable level in order to maximise the chances of long-term survival in nature of native species and ecological communities affected by cane toads.
Standard Operating Procedure for euthanasia of cane toads
The Standard Operating Procedure Methods for the field euthanasia of cane toads contains information on current best practice for the euthanasia (or humane killing) of cane toads. The recommendations in this document are based on information derived from the literature on cane toads, as well as recent research. This research included behavioural and time to death observations to examine the welfare impact on cane toads of a range of euthanasia techniques.
Please note that as new information becomes available the appropriateness of euthanasia methods for cane toads will be reviewed.
Listed key threatening process
The biological effects, including lethal toxic ingestion, caused by Cane Toads (Bufo marinus) are listed as a key threatening process under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
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