The list of brutal ways to kill cane toads is long and creative, but ahead of this month’s Great Cane Toad Bust, scientists say there is a humane way to make them croak.
Since Australia’s cane toad invasion began almost 90 years ago, hunting the warty amphibians has become something of a national cause – and not always a noble one.Cane toads have wreaked havoc on Australia’s wildlife for 75 years.But there is a humane way to terminate the deadly invader, put their carcasses to good use, and avoid the dreaded zombie toad phenomenon.
It’s vital not to skip the fridge step because directly freezing toads causes them pain, Vincent warns. “We’ve had occasions where we’ve had frozen toads dropped off to us by members of the public, and then they’ve been in our freezer for a week, but when we’ve gotten them out and started defrosting them, they’ve woken up,” she says.
That’s because the toxin stored in the glands at the back of toad necks is the key to a new weapon of mass destruction targeting cane toad tadpoles. The task of commercialising the lures has been trusted to Watergum, which expects the lures and tadpole traps to go on sale in the first few months of this year.
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