Toad Media

MEDIA

18 September 2008

WINTON PREPARES TO LOAD TOADS

Tim Winton, the patron of the Stop the Toad Foundation, is once again flying north to lend a hand in the fight to keep cane toads out of WA. The acclaimed West Australian writer is rallying volunteers for the annual Great Toad Muster just across the border in the Northern Territory.

'It's our third year of doing this,' said Winton, 'and the Foundation has learnt a lot in the field in that time. This year we're using mobile barriers. A simple temporary shadecloth barrier around a waterhole has proven a really efficient way of capturing toads in bulk. It's given us a surprising ability to pull a mass of the toxic ferals out of a landscape in a short period, so it's a heartening development.'

Winton and cane toad guru Graeme Sawyer (now Lord Mayor of Darwin) will be on hand in the first week of the Muster to support the volunteers, some of whom are making the long, hot trip north for the third time. And with searing temperatures, withering humidity and rugged terrain to deal with, it's no holiday.

'People come up here to do this work because they love their country,' said Winton. 'They take the trouble and time to defend it, when they could easily sit back and do nothing, and I admire their genuine patriotism. That's why I support their work. That's why I'll be there.'

The Great Toad Muster runs from 20 September until 18 October.

Since the first Muster in 2006 STTF has removed more than 60,000 cane toads from landscape near the WA border. While government agencies are keen to discover a biological control for toads, authorities are still a long way from a breakthrough, and at present the only thing preventing a full-scale entry into WA is the on-ground effort by community groups.

For interviews with Tim Winton at the 2008 Great Toad Muster, contact STTF Campaign Manager Kim Hands: 0400 130 397.

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