An academic is asking the public to report sightings of cane toads, after the invasive species was found in Nantou County.
The cane toad, which can lay up to 35,000 eggs at a time, is listed as an invasive species in most parts of the world where it is found.
“Volunteers have caught 1,300 of the toads in Nantou County’s Caotun Township (草屯) so far this season,” National Dong Hwa University zoology professor Yang Yi-ru (楊懿如) said on Wednesday. “At this point we are asking anyone who spots the toad’s eggs or tadpoles to report the finding, so that we can prevent it spreading to other areas.”
Photo courtesy of Yang Yi-ru
Yang has been working with local volunteers and officials from the Council of Agriculture’s Endemic Species Research Institute to track down breeding sites throughout the township, she said, adding that they have discovered 250 sites, one of which had more than 30 toads.
Although eggs laid by cane toads have only a 0.5 percent chance of successfully hatching, the large number of eggs laid each time means that anywhere from 40 to 175 toads hatch, she said.
“The cane toad grows to 30cm in length and has no natural predators. In fact, its body is poisonous to most animals,” she said.
Photo courtesy of Yang Yi-ru
Yang said that the cane toad could be completely eradicated, but it would not be possible this year, adding that conservationists hope to remove it from the wild within the next three to five years.
“It’s native to Central and South America, and was first introduced to Taiwan in 1935 to control pests — which was unsuccessful,” she said.
Yang urged people with pet cane toads who no longer want them to call the Council of Agriculture or the Society for Taiwan Amphibian Conservation, who would retrieve the toads without cost or penalty.
She cautioned people with cane toads in their homes not to release them into the wild, as it could be ecologically damaging.
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