CBC (Toronto, Ontario) 06 February 05 Reward offered for best cane toad trap
Authorities in northern Australia have launched a campaign to find the most successful way of slowing the devastating spread of cane toads.
The poisonous amphibians have become one of the country's most dangerous pests. Even fresh water crocodiles and dingos and are no match for them.
Other native fauna, including tiger snakes and kangeroos, have died after eating their poisonous skins.
Cane toads were introduced to help Australian farmers combat the spread of cane beetles in the mid 1930s. The experiment is widely considered to have been a complete disaster.
These days, there could be as many as 100 million cane toads in Australia.
In Australia's tropical north, the authorities are so desperate to stop the cane toads that they're offering a $16,000 reward for the most effective way to arrest their relentless advance.
Andrew Arthur, a 45-year-old Northern Territory musician-inventor, believes his toad blaster is the answer to this environmental crisis.
He's created a battery-powered loud speaker system, which plays the call of the male toad.
Arthur says it has the potential to be a "march of death" for the amphibians as it lures other toads into traps.
Reward offered for best cane toad trap