Toad Media

MEDIA

11 October 2007

New weapon unleashed against toads.

The Stop the Toad Foundation has used an exclusion fence as a part of its 2007 toad muster with stunning effect. The trial involved the erection of a fence to stop cane toads from accessing water and the results were dramatic.

STTF Coordinator Graeme Sawyer said the results were so positive that it could be the single biggest step in the toad fight so far in relation to the manual removal of cane toads, and has the potential to transform the fight against toads moving towards Western Australia.

The strategy developed by STTF exploits the toad's need for moisture and by denying them access to water it causes the toads to be much more vulnerable and far easier to catch. As they try to get through the fence they are easy to find and catch. Over the course of just a few days all the toads in the area need to go to water.

During the trial the two waterholes available to cane toads in an area of Auvergne Station were fenced off with specially designed fencing that blocked cane toads but allowed native wildlife access. The fence, constructed with shade cloth and just 50 cm high was erected in half a day.

Volunteer helping to erect the fence.

At night the cane toads were all lined up along the fence trying to access water and they were easy to catch. Traps placed along the fence worked well and picking up toads required far fewer people than would normally be the case.

The next morning, in daylight, there was still 140 toads trying to get to the water hole and they were easily captured as well.

Mr Sawyer said the strategy was also very significant "as it gives us a way to get that “last toad” in an area, something we could never be sure about with traditional toadBusting".

Toads along the fence at night.

The strategy also means that we can reduce the number of people involved in cleaning the toads out of a specific location by about 75%, which means we can cover far greater areas with the volunteers that we have. The strategy also makes clearing up an area much faster with the population of toads being “crashed” in just 5 nights.

Overall we can clean up areas much more quickly with far less people and resources than was previously the case and the impact of other tools like traps and manual collection are amplified by the new strategy.

For photos and comment:

Robert Edel, Chair , Stop The Toad Foundation, 0417 927 830

Graeme Sawyer, Regional Coordinator, Stop The Toad Foundation, 0411 881 378

Russell Gueho, Campaign Manager, Stop The Toad Foundation, 0408954254