Toxic Toads Invade Taiwan

Biologists in Taiwan are in something of a panic. Recently alerted to a possible cane toad invasion, researchers from the Taiwan Amphibian Conservation Society rushed to the country’s central mountain range to investigate.

"I was shocked and worried when they found more than 20 [right away]," Yang Yi-ju, a toad expert at National Dong Hwa University who organized the search, told AFP.

The cane toad (Rhinella marina) is not only highly toxic, it is the poster child for invasive species. This toad was infamously invited into Australia in 1935 to control the cane grubs eating sugarcane, but then proceeded to run roughshod over the northeast in an infestation that continues to this day. They are ridiculously difficult to control because they have no natural predators in the lands they invade, not to mention that females lay 30,000 eggs at a time and they mate year round.

The Taiwanese government banned the import of cane toads in 2016, but a black market persisted – the toads are a popular pet in Taiwan and are used in some traditional medicines – and some escaped into the wild.

As pets go, some people find them “cute.” In Australia, children have been known to play with the poisonous frogs as if they’re dolls, putting little dresses on them and such. The 1988 short film “Cane Toads: An Unnatural History” documented the love-hate relationship between humans and frogs. (See www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SBLf1tsoaw&t=64s.)

"Taiwanese farmers generally ignore toads and even look favorably at toads when they find them, because they help rid the land of pests and are also a good luck symbol," Yang says. "It never occurred to them that this is an invasive species from a foreign land."

The researchers hope they’ve gotten in front of the invasion – they’ve captured more than 200 – but it is too early to tell. "Next spring during mating season is when we truly know for sure if we have contained it," says Yang.

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