Love them or Hate them , Cane Toads are Here to Stay ( continued )
ARTICLES
Love them or Hate them , Cane Toads are Here to Stay ( continued )
or Marine Toads ) and released then in the Hawaiian plantations . The toads don ’ t eat all of the beetles but keep beetle numbers low enough that a viable crop can be harvested .
The Case For Importing Toads into Australia .
In 1932 , a paper was presented by Raquel Dexter at the 4th Congress of the International Society of Sugar Cane Technologists in Puerto Rico on the use of the Giant Toad as a biological control for beetle infestations in sugar crops . The toad was subsequently taken from Puerto Rico to Honolulu to control beetle infestations in Hawaiian sugar cane fields . In the first few years of the release of the toads in Hawaii beetle numbers fell and sugar production increased .
The Premier of Queensland directed that Australian ( and especially Queensland ) scientists develop a case for the importation and controlled release of Giant Toads in the cane fields of Australia .
The Case Against the Importation of Toads into Australia
Other scientists , not directly under government control , voiced major concerns about the proposed release of the toads . The most outspoken was entomologist , Walter Froggatt wrote ‘ this great toad , immune from enemies , omnivorous in its habits , and breeding all year round , may become as great a pest as the rabbit or cactus ’.
Toads are Imported
The imperative for Queensland politicians to be seen trying to solve the problems of the sugar cane industry ultimately won the day . Scientists who opposed the importation of toads were censured or coerced to be quiet . A publicity campaign was promulgated by the Queensland Government heralding their efforts and portraying Cane Toads as the saviour of the sugar cane industry . All Queenslanders were told that their government had come up with a winning solution , and it should only be a few years before sugar production levels were restored to normal or better .
In June , 1935 , government entomologist , Reginald Mungomery working for the Queensland Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations , was sent to Hawaii where he captured 102 toads , imported them into Queensland . All but one toad had survived the journey . The toads were taken to the Meringa experimental farm near Gordonvale in far north Queensland on 22nd June 1935 . The toads were housed in a purpose-built enclosure and left to breed . He was convinced the cane toad was the answer to a major agricultural crisis in the sugar industry , as they had reportedly solved similar beetle problems in Hawaii , the Philippines and Puerto Rico . On 19th August that year , 2400 toads were released into sites around Gordonvale in north Queensland . Toads were bred at a great rate and further releases of toads in the Cairns and Innisfail areas soon followed .
William Froggatt lobbied the Federal Government to exercise caution , and the Director-General of Health banned any further release of toads in December 1935 . But this ban was to be shortlived . The Queensland Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations and local cane growers subsequently lobbied the Queensland Premier and Minister for Agriculture , who in turn pressured the then Prime Minister , Joseph Lyons , who rescinded the ban in September , 1936 . Toads were then released throughout the remaining sugar cane regions of Queensland .
Why the Decision-making Process was Flawed
Political expediency became the over-riding factor in making the decision . All the cautious testing characterising the previous investigations into cane grub control methods was utterly ignored . There is no evidence of any pre-release testing by the government entomologists to determine if the toads even ate the cane beetles . To prevent any concerns or facts from interfering with the importation of toads , they were imported and released as quickly as possible . Scientific opposition to the importation was treated as “ unpatriotic ” and detrimental to the cause of the sugar farmers . In short , the government initiated a propaganda campaign hailing toads as the saviour of the sugar cane industry . Science was totally side-lined in the decision .
The cane beetles that the toads were supposed to control were native Australian species , different from those causing problems in Hawaii and Puerto Rico , yet no trials were carried out to see if this translated to Australian conditions . Risk assessments of potential damage from the introduced species were not carried out .
The Result
Within three years of the introduction of the cane toads it was clear that the introduction was a failure . Firstly , toads were not controlling the cane beetles because they were not staying in the cane fields . Instead , they were wandering over large areas in search of other more easily accessible insect prey . Secondly , the toads were killing native wildlife . Toads have a series of glands in their skin that produces a lethal toxin . The toxin is used to protect the toad when attacked . The toxin is released over the skin of the toad , and any would-be attacker that mouths or bites the toad will get a mouthful of toxin . Australian animals proved to be naïve to toads and their toxins .
As soon as it was realised that the introduction of toads was a failure , Queensland politicians quickly distanced themselves from the decision to import toads . They blamed the scientists for not giving them the correct advice . When this wasn ’ t believed ,
28 SCIENCE EDUCATIONAL NEWS VOL 67 NO 2