Essay On Cane Toads

An invasive species is one that is unknown to an ecosystem that causes economic or environmental harm to human health. A cane toad (Rhinella marina) is a large, poisonous amphibian with dry skin, that moves with small, quick hops. The average adult cane toad is roughly 15 cm. They were originally from Southern U.S. states and South America. Cane toads are most likely to be found in a range of habitats from coastal land to parts of rainforests; however, they are copious in open fields and grasslands. They feed on just about anything that they are able to fit in their mouths, but they usually eat living insects such as beetles, ants, termites, and other bugs. Cane toads adapt well to their environment and they serve as a dominant species in their ecosystem because they have very few

predators. If they sense a predator, they will turn on their side so the gland that secrets the poison is facing their attacker.

The poison is usually consumed through mucous membranes and can cause inflammation and blindness to humans. Approximately 100 Cane toads were imported from Hawaii to Australia to attack the Grey Backed cane beetle, the Scarab beetle, and the Frenchie beetle, because their larvae eat the roots of sugarcane and kill the plants. These 100 cane toads reproduced rather quickly, and by 1935, over 3,000 cane toads were released into sugar cane fields in Queensland, Australia to fight off pests. The cane toads had one job, to fight off pests, but they failed. Now, the cane toad is treated as an Australian pest because they have a strong sex drive and are growing largely in numbers. Not to mention, they are very harmful with poison that kills pets and harms humans. As well, they are very harmful to other animals and organisms because the spread various diseases. In an attempt to control the cane toads, many quarantine checks are done. Humans, especially in Australia, but in other locations like Florida, are not fond of the cane toad for numerous reasons. One cliche reason is that they simply do not like the appearance of the cane toad. They think that the cane

toads are ugly creatures. They also feel cane toads are a threat to Australia because they have managed to populate all over Australia. Cane toads are not preserved under Australian wildlife regulations, so killing them is fair game. Australians tried killing groups of cane toads however their efforts proved futile. Australians then tried to spray cane toads with pesticides, which seemed to work,but at the expense of human lives because the pesticide caused cancer. So, the use of that pesticide on cane toads was deemed illegal and the cane toads reproduced in a short amount of time. Now, people still are trying to regulate the cane toad population and it is in in the top 100 invasive species.