ABC Listen Huh, a frog in the News Time studio.
That's weird. Uh, Ruby, I wouldn't touch it if I were you.
Hi Miranda. Look, there's another frog under the desk.
What are they doing here?
They're Bufo mariners, aka cane toads.
They're poisonous. There's another one.
And another. And another.
There are more than 200 million cane toads in Australia right now.
And they're hopping all the way from far north Queensland to my doorstep.
But you're from northern New South Wales.
It takes about three days to drive that far.
Yep. I live on Gumbangia country where cane toads are threatening to take over.
Speaking of taking over, you seem like quite the cane toad expert, Miranda.
And I'm thinking maybe you should take over this episode of Newstime.
Totally happy to. Okay then, hop to it.
Welcome to Cane Toad Country.
Hi friends, my name's Miranda.
I'm 12 years old and I'm popping in for Ruby on this special episode of Newstime.
Hi, Miranda. Today, I'm coming to you live from my home, the Cane Toad Frontline, the Clarence Valley in northern New South Wales.
I'm here with local land care worker, Matt Morris, and his main job is cane toad control.
Hi, Matt. Hi, Matt.
Hi, everyone. Most people know what a frog looks like.
A frog is sort of slimy and it's got, like, really big eyes.
A frog looks like a little green thing.
So Matt, how do you actually tell the difference between a cane toad, a friendly toad or a frog?
Yeah, that's a great question.
So cane toads have a bony ridge above the eye and they've got an M -shaped ridge on their nose.
They've got warty skin.
They appear to be dry even though they've just come out of the water.
They've got a white and grey mottled belly.
They've got toes, their front toes, they actually face inwards.
they don't face forwards like normal frogs do, they've got a visible eardrum and they've got a poison gland behind their eardrum.
A cantoad is like brown with big bumpy warts.
A cantoad sounds like...
What about the tadpoles?
How do you tell if they're baby cantoads?
Yeah, so for the tadpoles, they're very small in size, usually between a centimetre and a centimetre and a half.
They're jet black, they've got a small thin tail Native frogs normally have a wider tail But the behaviour of them, so they swim in a big cluster together Where good frogs or native frogs actually swim by themselves Ooh, so cane toads travel in gangs Yikes!
Wait, why are cane toads bad news?
Yeah, so cane toads, unfortunately for everything else in the ecosystem or in nature nature are poisonous, it doesn't matter what part of the life cycle, whether it's the eggs, the tadpoles, or the toads out on the lawn.
So anything that they come in touch with that wants to eat them will die.
Animals that have succumbed to them or die from cane toads are your turtles, your snakes, your goannas.
Our pets are also a worry for cane toads because if you've got a pet dog or a pet cat that ends up just playing with a cane toad, they might become sick as well.
how did cane toads end up in the clarence valley yeah so cane toads are an introduced species and they were introduced into queensland many many many years ago and they haven't been able to control them in that area and so what they've been doing is they've just been migrating further south and further west and unfortunately they're on our doorstep here in the clarence valley Sally.
So if I'm in my backyard and I see a cane toad, what do I do?
Yeah, so keep an eye on it, ask a parent or an adult that's around to put gloves on because we don't want them to handle the poisonous toad, put it in a bucket, take some photographs of that toad and send those photographs through when you're reporting to Feral Scan.
So once those photos have gone to Feral Scan, someone will come back to you and advise you if it is a cane toad or not and then they'll advise you further steps after then.
What are you doing to control the spread of cane toads?
Well there's lots of community groups, we run them, that conduct cane toad busting.
That's a night out after dark so your mum and dad will probably have to bring you and it's just a fun activity outside, collecting toads, putting them in buckets and what's great about it is you're actually taking all those toads out of that area so it's assisting our native wildlife and any pets that might be around.
So you are actually a cane toad buster?
Yes, I suppose I am.
Cool. Amazing. Thanks, Matt.
You've really helped us understand a bit more about this cane toad problem.
Thank you, Matt. But cane toads aren't the only invasive species causing big problems in Australia.
There are loads of pesky plants and animals that have been brought into the country.
I've heard of feral cats and rabbits and dogs.
There are feral boars and fire ants, feral camels.
Exactly. Let's talk to another expert who can try to explain how these invaders ended up here.
Hello, Invasive Species Council.
Jack Gough speaking.
Hi, Jack. Hi, Jack.
It's Miranda from the Clarence Valley in northern New South Wales.
Oh, hi, Miranda. How are the cane toads?
Still here. Which got me wondering, how did they end up in Australia in the first place?
Well Miranda, cane toads were actually brought to Australia in 1935.
Farmers had hoped they'd eat the beetles that were destroying their crops in Queensland, but...
They didn't eat the beetles.
They didn't know that they could be harmful.
That's right. Instead, they started spreading everywhere.
And because they're poisonous, they've been a huge problem for native animals.
They would probably be regretting their decision to bring the cane toads into Australia in the first place because now we're having to deal with them and try and get rid of them.
What are some other invasive species that are causing problems in Australia?
Oh, there's quite a few.
There are fire ants in Queensland.
They have a very painful sting.
Rabbits that eat our native plants and take food from our native animals.
Weeds like Lantana that choke out our bushland and even feral horses in national parks that trash and trample streams. How did they get here?
Well, rabbits were brought over by European settlers in the 1800s.
Camels were used for transport in the outback but were released when cars and trains took over.
And fire ants, they accidentally hitched a ride in shipping containers from overseas.
I know the fire ants especially, they can also, like, hurt people.
Like, people can be allergic to them or it could, like, really injure a person.
Which invasive animal do you think is having the biggest impact That's a tricky question.
Feral pigs and deer are trashing and polluting our forests and rivers but feral and roaming pet cats, they are devastating.
Every night they eat about 8 million of our native birds, reptiles, frogs and small mammals.
I think wild horses are also bad because they trample all the plants.
Rabbits, because they're wild they just breed and breed and breed which create like 10 times more rabbits and then that just keeps going and keeps going.
Do you think there will ever be a time when Australia gets rid of invasive species?
Well, we can definitely stop new ones from arriving if we're careful.
And for the ones already here, we're always working on ways to control their numbers and protect native plants and animals.
It's a big job, but every little bit helps.
And what about cane toads?
Will they keep spreading?
Forever? They're still moving south, but scientists are working hard to slow them down.
People are also coming up with clever ways to stop them, like special traps.
So while they might not completely disappear, we can definitely reduce their impact.
Thanks, Jack. I'd better go.
Sounds like I've got an invader.
I mean, visitor. Good luck, Miranda.
Oh, Ruby! Hi! Hi, Ruby.
Oof, there sure are a lot of cane toads out here.
Come in. We've been learning all about invasive species.
Excellent. Tell me everything you know.
Cane toads became pests after being introduced into Australia to control destructive beetles in Queensland's sugarcane crops.
I think cane toads are bad because they eat and kill local wildlife.
I know that the fire ants cause bad grass health and extreme economic losses to get rid of them and feral camels go around Australia eating all the grass, leaving no food left for other wildlife.
And feral cats have caused the extinction of many species.
Wow. You have been busy.
But I think I'm done with takeovers today.
You can have the microphone back, Ruby.
Thanks, Miranda. Hey, you can take over news time anytime you like and I will catch the rest of you listening on the next regular episode.
Bye, Ruby. Bye. Bye, Marina.
Bye, Cane Toads. Do you fancy yourself as a future journalist?
Check out the News in My Neighbourhood competition.
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You'll find the details on the ABC Education website.
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