SUNDAY TIMES (Perth, Australia) 12 March 08 Cane toads close on WA border (Narelle Towie)
(AAP) Deadly cane toads are closer to WA than ever before, volunteers battling the wildlife menace claim.
The poisonous amphibians up to 25cm in length, which threaten native Australian wildlife, are now only 50km from WA – just a hop, skip and jump from WA World Heritage site the Bungle Bungles, and Australia’s largest inland freshwater sea, Lake Argyle.
One last water boundary is all that stands in the way of the invaders, who are poised to enter the Kimberley via the Ord River by the end of this year.
It will be downhill for the toads - and for WA wildlife - once they arrive, says Lee Scott-Virtue, president of volunteer wildlife protection group Kimberley Toad Busters.
“Once the cane toads reach the minor catchments that make up the greater Ord River, their movement west will be downhill," Scott-Virtue said.
"That is, swimming and hopping with the flow of the water rather than uphill against – as they have moved up to now. Then their progress may be faster."
Cane toads marched into Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory in 2005 and are moving at a rate of 200km a year.
They threaten native species by taking precious food resources and poisoning an abundance of wildlife who feed on them, such as lizards, birds, turtles and crocodiles.
“The imminent loss of wildlife, especially reptiles, will be profound if we don’t stop them,” said Sarah Brett, a volunteer with Kimberley Toad Busters.
The group today released warning pictures of the devastating effect the toads have had on wildlife on colonising fronts : Cane toad damage
The introduced cane toad is listed as among the world’s worst 100 invasive species.
In 2004 the WA government introduced a cane toad initiative, which last year was funded with $900,000.
Kimberley Toad Busters says the number of toads headed to WA has been dramatically reduced thanks to 1700 volunteers who enlisted to help catch, weigh, measure and kill more than 200,000 cane toads and countless millions of tadpoles in the Northern Territory.
The group is working to educate communities in the North West to help people identify the amphibians and prevent native frogs being killed mistakenly.
“We are probably not going to stop every single toad, but if we have a trickle of toads entering, not a flood, it’s a lot less damage to the wildlife,” Brett said.
If you would like to make a donation or join Kimberley Toad Busters, visit: http://www.canetoads.com.au
Cane toads close on WA border