MELBOURNE WEEKLY (Australia) 08 November 10 Hear & There: Hop into action (Roland Rocchiccioli)
I have no recollection of how it came to pass but almost 30 years ago, while working as a reporter on TEN Eyewitness News, I returned from Adelaide with a story about the demise of frogs in our waterways. When it went to air everyone laughed and it was greeted with much friendly mockery in the newsroom. I was called ‘‘frogman’’ and a bright-spark went so far as to leave underwater goggles on my desk. Not to disappoint, I wore them on the top of my head, all day!
I cannot remember the name of the scientist I talked to but he believed the disappearance of frogs clearly marked a new and, he thought, troubling change in the quality of our waterways. He explained that frogs absorb water and breathe through their skin; consequently, they absorb pollutants from their environment. Frogs and tadpoles are excellent indicators of the water-purity level as they do not survive in pollution.
No one took the story seriously and, as it transpires, he was only partly correct in his predictions. It was much worse than he imagined. When it comes to the destruction of local flora and fauna, Australia has the worst record of any country in the world, including the Third World.
The cane toad was introduced into far north Queensland in 1936 by the Commonwealth Department of Health, to help eradicate pests from the sugarcane fields. In a short time it became obvious the experiment was a failure and Australia was stuck with an introduced, aggressive species.
Native to South America, cane toads have been the cause of much environmental damage and have recently been found as far afield as Broome in Western Australia. From the original release of 102 young toads we now have an estimated plague of 200 million. Together with foxes, rabbits and cats, they are regarded as an exemplary case of an invasive feral species.
A recent report on ABC’s AM program is reason for concern. The Darwin-based FrogWatch group launched a new program called Reptile Watch, claiming there has been a significant decline in some reptile species in the Northern Savanna regions, largely due to cane toads. The organisation is calling for urgent action to reverse the problem. Executive officer of FrogWatch Graeme Sawyer has no doubt reptiles in Northern Australia are under threat. Disturbingly, a group of naturalists and other people who have spent time in the bush observing reported the goannas are gone.
Sawyer said: “Aboriginal people in Arnhem land are reporting the same thing. People up on the Buckingham Plains who regularly this time of year hunt goannas with fire – they burn the plains, and then they pull all the goannas and snakes out of their holes and have a big feast. They didn’t get any this year.”
Furthermore, some of our key predator species, including the big king brown snake, seem to have been wiped out of the tropical savannas. He has no doubt the declines are largely due to cane toads and stresses more quantitative and accurate reptile research is needed. Graeme Sawyer says more federal funding is required to tackle the threat and paint a picture of reptile populations in Northern Australia.
In the same way FrogWatch harnessed community support to gather information on frog populations in the tropics, and raise awareness about the impact of cane toads, the same result is hoped for the newly launched Reptile Watch. The long-term effects on the Australian environment are difficult to determine but there have been examples of a precipitous decline in local species after the arrival of the cane toad.
Hop into action