Australia’s popular Kimberley wilderness region has resorted to a long knee-high fence to keep out the poisonous cane toad, which is rapidly overrunning the tourist attraction.
A 2km barrier will be erected at Emma Gorge, made from cloth to allow other animals to move through while keeping out the toads, prolific breeders that secrete a toxin that can kill pets and wildlife.
Stop the Toad Foundation campaign manager Kim Hands said hundreds of thousands of toads had penetrated into the area and were threatening native species.
Photo: AFP/Imperial College London/Dr. Matthew Fischer
照片：法新社／倫敦帝國學院／馬修‧費雪博士
“Experience in the past has been that it has been really efficient,” she said of the fence.
The cane toad has spread widely in tropical Australia since being introduced to kill beetles in the 1930s, devouring insects, bird’s eggs and native species such as the quoll, a cat-like marsupial.
But a recent investigation by the University of Melbourne showed that the toad — up to 25cm long and 2kg in weight — has an Achilles’ heel.
Photo: AFP/Parc National des Pyrenees
照片：法新社／庇里牛斯山國家公園
Unlike indigenous amphibians that have adapted to arid conditions, it desperately needs access to nearby standing water to survive.
Placing small fencing around man-made sources such as irrigation ditches and troughs is enough to cause the toad to die of dehydration and stop its advance, said the study.
(AFP)
澳洲熱門的金柏利野生地區築起一道高度及膝的長圍籬，以防堵有毒的蔗蟾（又名海蟾蜍）入侵。
Photo: AFP/Imperial College London/Dr. Matthew Fischer
照片：法新社／倫敦帝國學院／馬修‧費雪博士
在艾瑪峽谷築起的一道兩公里長的圍籬是用布料做成，如此在可以讓除了蔗蟾以外的動物進出自如。蔗蟾繁殖能力強，其分泌的毒素足以使寵物與野生動物致命。
遏止蟾蜍基金會的活動經理金姆‧漢茲說，數千隻蟾蜍已經侵入這個區域且危及當地的物種。
她說，「過去經驗告訴我們這個方法已是非常有效率的。」
自從蔗蟾在一九三零年代引進澳洲試圖控制甘蔗田的甲蟲後，牠們就廣泛繁衍，吞噬昆蟲、鳥蛋與狀似貓的有袋類動物袋鼬等當地物種。
不過墨爾本大學的一項新的科學研究顯示，蔗蟾─可達二十五公分長與兩公斤重─有個致命傷。
蔗蟾不像土生土長的兩棲動物可以適應乾燥的氣候狀況，牠需要隨時鄰近水源才能存活。
這個研究指出，在灌溉溝渠與飼料槽等人造水源周圍架設小型圍籬，就足以讓蔗蟾因為脫水而死亡並阻擋牠們入侵。
（法新社／翻譯：林亞蒂）
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