Plan Your Visit. Membership Home. Events Home. Full List Calendar View Upcoming. Virtual Live Streaming Online Academy. Exhibits Home. Learn Home. Give Home. Membership Donor Circles. Corporate Circle Sponsorship. Sustainability For All. Sustainability For All Home. Saving Species. Saving Species Home. Exit Nav. Animal Database. Information is presented for use as a reference. Habitat In their natural environments these toads live in sand dunes and coastal grasslands to the margins of rain forests and mangroves.
Physical Characteristics Cane toads are large squat amphibians. Size Females are about cm in and weigh up to 1. Males are smaller. Diet Cane toads eat almost anything they can swallow, limited only by the size of their mouths. Reproduction In most geographic areas these toads reach sexual maturity at months. Behavior These toads respond to threats by turning sideways so that the parotid glands are directed toward the attacker. They can survive in temperatures from 5 o C to 40 o C 41 o F to o F Longevity In the wild cane toads have a life span of at least 5 years.
Conservation Cane toads were introduced into Australia from Hawaii as a way to control sugar cane beetles whose larvae eat the roots of sugar cane, destroying the plants or stunting the growth. Special Notes Some birds and rodents have found a way to eat cane toads without being exposed to the toxin.
Not on exhibit. It has highly visible poison glands located near the back of the head. The back and legs of the cane toad are covered in wart-like lumps and its skin has a leathery appearance. The cane toad has conspicuous glands behind the eyes called parotoid glands. When a predator eats the cane toad, the glands release a distasteful and toxic substance forcing the predator to let go. If the predator has already partially swallowed the toad, the toxin is strong enough to kill animals as large as goannas, quolls and red-bellied blacksnakes.
There are currently no control programs for the cane toad, though researchers are examining the possibility of introducing a pathogen that is specific to the toad and will not affect native amphibians.
The cane toad was originally from South America and was introduced to Hawaii. It was from Hawaii that it was introduced into north-eastern Australia around to control a major pest, the sugar cane beetle. The toad itself has become a huge problem as a single female is capable of laying many thousands of eggs a year. Toads can live for at least 15 years in captivity and individuals have bred for at least five years in the wild. Native animals affected by cane toads in Australia include frogs, reptiles such as large goannas, crocodiles and blue tongue lizards, fish and mammals such as quolls native cats.
They are vulnerable to cane toad toxin all toad life stages are poisonous and are often killed when cane toads first arrive in an area, leading to population reductions. Toads also compete with native species for food, consuming large numbers of native invertebrates, and they carry diseases that can spread to native frogs. Although there are some reports of native predators consuming cane toads safely, the longer-term impact of cane toads on native fauna is not yet clear and is the subject of ongoing research.
Toads eat beneficial insects like dung beetles and constitute an economic threat to beekeepers. Cane toad poison is highly toxic to most animals and causes pain if it comes in contact with eyes.
Without emergency veterinary care, dogs and cats which mouth or bite cane toads sometimes die. Biological control may be the only long-term means of reducing the number of cane toads across large areas.
Research to date has been unable to find a suitable disease or parasite specific to cane toads that will provide effective control. Various physical methods for reducing toad numbers including traps, hand removal and fences are being used by government and volunteer groups in an attempt to slow the westward movement of toads. The effectiveness of these techniques is still being investigated.
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