History & Culture
Defining Moments in Australian History: Introduction of cane toads
1935: Cane toads brought to Australia to control Queensland’s cane beetles.
1935: Cane toads brought to Australia to control Queensland’s cane beetles.
Earlier this year, photographer Steve Wilson captured the moment a pair of crows made a meal of a cane toad. As this highly poisonous amphibian disperses across northern Australia, the numbers of predators attempting to eat them are crashing. The most notable victims are quolls, goannas and certain snakes, which have been all but wiped out in some regions. Crows, however, have learnt how to eat toads by avoiding the most toxic parts.
Releasing baby cane toads into the wild could be the key to saving threatened goannas from an inevitable onslaught of the toxic pest.