Toad Media

MEDIA RELEASE

20 June 2006

Clear that cane toads have moved westwards as waters recede

Cane toads have now been confirmed as far west as Auvergne Lagoon, Northern Territory. This means that toads are now little more than 100km from the WA border as the crow flies.

A Stop The Toad Foundation exercise in the area this weekend has positively identified the toads and 18 adults were removed from the lagoon.

“As the ‘Wet’ recedes and we get better access to this land we may find them closer to the WA border yet” said Stop The Toad Foundation board member Russell Gueho, who was on the exercise.

The Foundation was conducting aerial and ground surveillance in the Timer Creek vicinity this weekend and a team which included Chris Spurr from Kimberley Toadbusters did the night-time check of the lagoon.

“We have had reports of toads in the upper reaches of Dick Creek too” said Derek Monks, Operation Manager for Stop The Toad in Kununurra. “While not quite so far westward, this news is particularly worrying because this creek line flows back into the West Baines River. This whole area is in the middle of our primary buffer zone - the focus of our efforts. It is vital that we do not allow the toads to establish in the West Baines system”, he said.

The STTF will now swing part of the focus of its on-ground effort (out of Timber Creek and Kununurra) onto the Auvergne Lagoon. The STTF has also approached CALM to launch a joint targeted rapid response exercise to confirm the Dick Creek infestation and knock it out. “Drier, tougher conditions are on the way for toads, so if we can eradicate this infestation decisively, before they get a foothold in this catchment, we will still be in there with a chance”, said Graeme Sawyer, Regional Coordinator for the Stop The Toad Foundation.

STTF’s Dry Season strategy is available at www.stopthetoad.com

For further information contact Dennis Beros
Stop The Toad Foundation Campaign Manager
0409 244 029