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Toxic toads killing crocs in Australia: scientist

Toxic cane toads are threatening Australia’s freshwater crocodile population as their numbers explode in the country’s Northern Territory, a scientist said.

The toads have poisonous sacs on their heads and prove deadly when eaten by the crocodiles, which are smaller and grow at a slower pace than their saltwater counterparts, said Professor Keith Christian of Charles Darwin University. In some waterways, their numbers have been cut in half.

The crocodiles are a “really long-lived species that take a long time to mature before they are reproductive,” Christian said in a statement. “Populations can’t really withstand year after year of high mortality.”

The toads, which have spread into the wetlands of the World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory, are hopping west as they fan out across Australia.

Western Australian Environment Minister Donna Faragher said late last month the state’s “cane toad front” was located about 20km east of the Northern Territory border.

Less than two weeks later, a toad was found thousands of kilometers away on the state’s northwest coast. Environmentalists are concerned the toads will kill animals in the World Heritage listed Purnululu National Park, also known as the Bungle Bungles.

Western Australia’s Department of Environment and Conservation said the adult cane toad, discovered at a plant store in the town of Karratha, may have arrived on a truck from Darwin. It said the toad was euthanized by departmental officers.
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