AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION 18 June 08 Toads take out crocs
Freshwater crocodiles in the Northern Territory are being devastated by the poisonous cane toad, according to a scientist from the University of Sydney.
A survey along the Victoria River, taken before and after the arrival of cane toads, shows a reduction of up to 70 per cent in crocodile numbers.
Surveying the same river again this week, Dr Mike Letnic says one zone had only 35 freshies, down from 130 in 2005.
"We only saw about 30 crocs tonight, which is down about 70 per cent again from what we saw in 2005 before the toads arrived," he says.
"It's an enormous tragedy that cane toads were ever introduced to this country and I hope that partly because of this work, making people aware of what's going on, we'll try and collectively do something about the cane toad problem."
Toads take out crocs