NORTHERN TERRITORY NEWS (Darwin, Australia) 22 July 07 Study finds toads 'good for NT' (Greg McLean)

Cane toads have been given a bad name by environmental doomsayers - and may even be good for Territory eco-systems - one of Australia's top scientists says.

Professor Rick Shine from the University of Sydney is the head of Team Bufo, a research group that has been studying the impact of cane toads at Fogg Dam on Darwin's outskirts.

His team found the cane toad invasion had helped reduce mosquito numbers.

In the latest edition of Australasian Science magazine, Team Bufo also questions the impact of cane toads on native animals.

Team Bufo reports that while some native animals that eat cane toads _ in particular certain snakes and goannas _ have a high mortality rate, the majority learn to adapt and populations recover.

Professor Shine said doomsday scenarios about toads leaving a trail of death and destruction were a myth.

He believes millions of taxpayer dollars are being wasted on researching cane toads and not enough effort is being spent on understanding them.

Toads do affect the invertebrates because toads eat them and they do compete with frogs," he said.

"We measured both of these and found the effect is quite small."

But the NT's FrogWatch co-ordinator Graeme Sawyer questioned the research.

"We've found no evidence to support their findings," Mr Sawyer said.

"They cause huge damage to eco-systems and to suggest otherwise is absolute nonsense."

Professor Shine said: "The focus has been very simple, with people saying things like, `We don't want to measure toads or understand them - we just want to kill them'.

"So there is a cane toad army raging through tropical Australia and we don't know what resources it needs, where it breeds, what it eats or what effect it has.

"Instead we spend our time and money trying to come up with ways to kill and remove them," he said.
Study finds toads 'good for NT'

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