Cane Toads General Information

Cane Toads in Australia

Cane toads were brought to Australia in 1935 in an unscientific and unsuccessful attempt to control cane beetles which were decimating sugar cane crops in Far-North Queensland. Unable to eat the cane beetles, cane toads have since turned elsewhere for food and have now spread across three states and one territory with an estimate population exceeding 200 million nationally.

Cane toads typically breed between September to April in Southeast Queensland and Northern NSW’s subtropical climates; entering a state called “torpor” during the cooler months during which they reduce metabolic activity to conserve resources. The breeding season is the best time to control cane toads as this is when they are active and easily located.

Cane Toads as Invaders

There are a few key aspects that make cane toads such successful invaders in Australian ecosystems:

1. Cane toads have enormous appetites and can eat just about anything they can fit in their mouths, ranging from insect to native frogs/tadpoles, bird eggs, and even small mammals. This can have devastating impacts on native prey populations as well as allowing them to outcompete native species for resources.
2. Cane toads have prolific breeding capabilities, with a single female able to lay up to 35,000 eggs at a time and breed twice per year in sub-tropical climates. Cane toads develop through life stages rapidly, with eggs hatching after 3 days, tadpoles developing after 2 weeks, and juveniles reaching sexual maturity after 6-12 months. Once they have matured a cane toad can live for up to 10-15 years in the wild, producing thousands of offspring annually.
3. Cane toads are highly toxic, secreting a cardio toxin called bufotoxin from their parotoid glands when approached by predators. Bufotoxin is not found in any of Australia’s native flora or fauna meaning our wildlife was unable to evolve biological or behavioural adaptations and resulting in lethal impacts to many of our threatened native predators.

Impacts of Cane Toads

These threatening processes have a few key impacts on Australian ecosystems and way of life:

1. Cane toads impact agriculture by consuming beneficial insects such as dung beetles, impacting pasture health and livestock parasite loads, and honey bees, collapsing hives and impacting beekeepers.
2. Cane toads threaten our native wildlife both through their toxicity to native predators, as well as their competition and/or preying on other native species.
3. Cane toads can also threaten beloved domestic pets such as dogs or cats due to their toxic nature. An adult cane toad can kill a medium-sized dog in as little as 15 minutes.