Manila Bulletin

Animal Appeal

Cane Toads: Unwanted, unloved, unfazed

By Gerry Los Banos

“Yuck!” This is the word I hear most often uttered by people who chance upon the Cane Toad. Such a reaction is quite understandable; this Amphibian is hardly the most comely of animals with their warty skin, yellow-brown splotchy complexion, and bulging eyes.

Add to that the fact that they’re widely known to be poisonous, and it’s of little wonder many humans cringe at the sight of one.

Rhinella marina, formerly known as Bufo marinus, is sometimes called the Philippine Bullfrog. But a careful observer would immediately note their relatively short legs and bumpy texture and realize that this creature is definitely a Toad and not a Frog.

Like most of their kind, the Cane Toad tends to crawl rather than hop. Though when they do choose to hop, they can do so with startling speed.

Adult Cane Toads commonly grow to lengths of over 6 inches and can weigh almost 3 pounds, making them the largest Toads in the world. Giant specimens have been known to reach lengths of 9 inches. An amphibian of that size bounding across one’s lawn can, understandably, be quite discomfiting to some people. And the first instinct is usually to either avoid them or get rid of them.

Good luck getting rid of them, though. Scientists and agricultural experts have been trying to figure out ways to control Cane Toad populations for decades.

A GUEST WHO STAYED

Cane Toads are considered an invasive species in the Philippines, but what that simply means is that they are not native to the country and can cause harm to the ecosystem. They did not settle in the Philippines by choice but were brought over by agriculturists in the 1930s from their original home in South and Central America.

Those who’d introduced the Toad to our shores hoped that the amphibian, known for their hearty appetite, would help control insects and other creatures capable of damaging crops. As expected, the voracious Toad ate them; however, they also devoured everything else, including beneficial insects.

In addition, the Toads also ate fledgling birds, reptiles, other amphibians, and even small mammals. This ability to eat almost any other animal they could catch and stuff into their mouth was one of the things that enabled Cane Toads to reproduce and propagate themselves to the point that they could soon be found in almost every corner of the country.

And the damage they inflicted outweighed the benefits they brought. A study by the International Rice Research Institute showed that less than 10 percent of the insects consumed by the non-native Cane Toads were those identified as crop-damaging (as opposed to over 50 percent, in the case of certain indigenous Amphibians such as the native Luzon Wart Frog.)

The Philippine experience is hardly unique as many other countries brought

Cane Toads into their territories with similar hopes that they would control agricultural pests. An article published in National Geographic narrates how “In 1935, at the request of sugarcane plantation owners, the Australian government released about 2,400 Cane Toads into north Queensland to help control cane beetles, which eat the roots of sugarcane.” With no natural predators and an ability to reproduce rapidly, they spread quickly and widely and soon numbered in the millions and established populations in thousands of square miles in northeastern Australia.

The Cane Toad was also introduced into North America and has become a problem in states like Florida and Hawaii, as well as in the islands of Guam and New Guinea.

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2022-05-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-05-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

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