Detection dogs keeping Moreton Island free of cane toads

THEY’RE on the march almost everywhere else in Australia but cane toads are being held at bay on a pristine island off the Queensland coast and it’s all thanks to wildlife conservation super sleuth, Tommy.

Although not strictly classed as an agricultural pest, these noxious creatures are labelled an “invasive” species.

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TOMMY is ready to go to work, eyes alert, body rigid and anxious to spring into action. He’s waiting for the signal from his boss to start his first shift for the day. Hearing the words “OK Tommy”, he leaps from the utility tray and hits the ground running. Tail whipping, nose down sniffing, Tommy moves at lightning pace, on high alert as he searches for his quarry.

Tommy is a super sleuth, a wildlife conservation dog ­visiting Moreton Island in his capacity as a toad detector. His job is to help maintain the island’s status as one of the last places in Queensland that is cane toad-free.

This is an extraordinary achievement considering how quickly cane toads are invading other parts of Australia. According to Professor Rob Capon, 59, from the University of Queensland’s Molecular Bioscience department, an ­estimated 1.5 billion cane toads are making their way from north Queensland across the country at a rate of about 60km per year. The initial 101 cane toads introduced from Hawaii to Queensland in 1935 in a botched attempt to eradicate the sugar cane beetle are now a massive problem.

Tommy the toad detector dog. Picture: Toby Zerna

Although not strictly classed as an agricultural pest, these noxious creatures are labelled an “invasive” species. Poisonous at all stages of their life cycle, cane toads are highly toxic to other animals if swallowed, and can also be dangerous to humans. When roughly handled, or if it feels threatened, the cane toad releases poison from its parotoid glands, ­located between its shoulders, and if absorbed through the eye, nose or mouth, it can cause pain, inflammation or ­temporary blindness.

There have been no ­recorded cases of people dying in Australia from its poison, but many household pets and ­native animals have ­succumbed to cane-toad toxicity. Across northern Australia, cane toads are responsible for destroying large numbers of native wildlife that have ­swallowed them.

Moreton Island, 25km off the coast of Brisbane in Moreton Bay, is the world’s third-largest sand island and is more than 95 per cent national park, harbouring abundant native wildlife and insect species not found in other parts of ­Australia. This wilderness is a major attraction for visitors to southeast Queensland.

One of Australia’s cane toad ­experts, Professor Rick Shine, 66, knows if the noxious ­amphibian unleashed itself on Moreton’s environment, there would be a devastating ­impact on native wildlife.

“Toads would cause an intense wave of mortality of large predators,” says Shine, a ­Professor in Biology from Sydney University. “Goannas, blue-tongue skinks, some venomous snakes and quolls would be the main victims, mostly likely to be fatally poisoned if and when they try to eat a large toad.”

A decline in these predators would create a biodiversity imbalance, with some species multiplying as ­others gradually disappear. For this reason alone, conservationists and visitors attracted to Moreton Island’s habitat have just cause to keep cane toads off the island.

Tommy isn’t working alone on the mission to keep cane toads off Moreton Island. He is joined by Becky, also a working English springer spaniel, and Emma, a working English cocker spaniel. All three have been trained as wildlife conservation dogs to help locate endangered or invasive species and ­belong to professional canine handler Steve Austin, 63, from Sydney.

Like many holiday-makers, the dogs visit Moreton ­during Christmas and Easter, when Austin drives north, to spend a week searching the island for cane toads.

Over 30 years, Austin has trained many dogs for wildlife conservation. While Tommy, Emma and Becky are trained to detect cane toads, foxes and feral cats, Austin also trains dogs to detect ­narcotics and explosives. A passionate ­conservationist, he admits he prefers chasing the threat to our native wildlife over drug or explosive detection.

Trainer Steve Austin with some of his sniffer dogs. Picture: Toby Zerna

“Thanks to the feral cat and fox, Australia has the ­greatest mammal extinction rate in the world,” Austin says. “The problem with our mammals is that generally they’re not very bright and are easy to hunt. If my dogs and I can help ­endangered species and unique habitats like Moreton, I’ll rest a hell of a lot easier.”

While Austin’s dogs play a vital role, they weren’t the first cane-toad detection dogs to visit the island. That ­distinction belongs to Nifty, a female Belgian malinois. Christine Sanders, a ­volunteer for the Moreton Island ­Protection Committee (MIPC), organised Nifty’s inaugural visit to Moreton in 2009 following Cyclone Hamish, when the cargo ship MV Pacific Adventurer was damaged and 270 ­tonnes of oil spilt into the Moreton Bay Marine Park.

Sanders, 62, from Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast, ­recalls MIPC’s concerns. “Moreton’s roads are unsealed, so thousands of tonnes of mulch from the mainland was shipped over to the island to be laid on the sandy roads to support the heavy vehicles involved in the oil spill clean-up,” she says. “We were concerned about the potential for cane toads to be in the mulch.”

When the Australian Government allocated funds for community-based environmental restoration programs following the disaster, Sanders applied for and received a grant to check the island for cane toads. Her research led her to Nifty, who was involved in hunting cane toads on the ­Western Australia and Northern Territory border. She ­contacted the WA Government, which owned Nifty, and it was happy to release her for a few months to visit Moreton Island. “Nifty was being ‘rested’ during the Kimberley’s wet ­season,” Sanders says.

Her hunch paid off when two cane toads were found by campers at the Wrecks campground on the western side of the island. Although Nifty didn’t sniff them out, her ­presence on the island had alerted campers to be on the lookout for toads.

Moreton Island, 25km off the coast of Brisbane in Moreton Bay, is the world’s third-largest sand island and is more than 95 per cent national park.

Sanders says that Queensland Parks and Wildlife ­officials were initially reluctant to allow Nifty onto Moreton. “They were concerned (the dog) might hunt the native wildlife,” she explains.

Austin scoffs when hearing of their hesitation. “A ­conservation dog never harms, they’re trained to be very astute to their surroundings,” he says. “Their job is to ­indicate, not to chase or harm the wildlife. Whether it’s a cat, fox, rabbit or toad, we don’t allow any engagement and avoidance training is reinforced regularly,” he adds. “These dogs have a fantastic attitude, are born to work and ­hunting is in their nature. All I need do is guide them to the odour, be it a narcotic, a cane toad, a feral cat or an ­explosive. It’s all about technique, training the dog to want to work and not forcing them to work.”

Austin was approached by Brisbane City Council in 2013 to bring his cane-toad detection dogs to Moreton. He ­vividly recalls when they flushed out their first live toad a few years later. Austin’s original detection dog, Bolt, found an adult toad at the Wrecks campground. Using garden gloves, Austin impounded the toad to pass on to the ­rangers from the Department of National Parks. The cane toads are “terminated” by freezing them before they’re sent away for analysis to determine their sex and size.

These “live” toad finds make Sanders, who’s been visiting the island for 30 years, more determined to continue ­efforts to keep these unwelcome visitors away. With support from Brisbane City Council, Sanders and her MIPC members are doing their best to educate visitors to the ­island about its cane toad-free status. They’ve placed warning signs at various locations on the island and mainland and have created pamphlets on how to correctly identify a cane toad by its distinguishing features, with photos and advice on what to do if one is found. These pamphlets carry important ­messages, considering many Moreton visitors are overseas tourists potentially unaware of the difference between a cane toad and a native frog, and the fact they are highly toxic and dangerous to touch.

Tommy the cane toad detection dog with trainer Steve Austin on Moreton Island.

Tommy whimpers with excitement as Austin blows a whistle, redirecting him to move on or circle back. They’re searching for cane toads at the rubbish depot behind the Tangalooma Island Resort. “Good boy,” responds Austin enthusiastically as the dog picks up a scent. Tommy stops, circles back, then lifts his front leg, indicating he’s located a feral cat scent beneath some lengths of timber. “Mate, I know, I know,” Austin says loudly, acknowledging Tommy’s efforts. “Yes, good dog.” This is the third feral cat scent Tommy’s detected in two minutes. “A dog’s nose is able to detect a scent at least 1000 times more efficiently than a human,” Austin points out proudly.

Although they’re looking for cane toads, Austin recog­nises Tommy’s good work in detecting the feral cat, which he’ll mention to Parks and Wildlife. He produces a rubber ball from his pocket and throws it a few metres. ­Instantly the ball is retrieved and dropped at his feet. Tail wagging ­feverishly, eyes locked on Austin, Tommy waits for the next command. “When Tommy finds the odour it’s the only time he gets his reward (the ball) from me,” Austin says. “My dogs have the time of their lives while being trained.”

Near the southern township of Kooringal, Becky has stopped on the sandy road. Austin calls her to come but she stays with her gaze fixed just above the ground. It’s the ­signal for a cane toad, which Austin finds buried beneath a layer of sand – squished by passing traffic.

Investigations reveal a nearby homeowner had unwittingly transported the cane toad from the mainland in a trailer filled with garden mulch. The trailer, belonging to the homeowner’s son, had been parked in a Brisbane yard where cane toads are prolific, and this one, and potentially others, had hitched a ride.

This is the most likely way cane toads are introduced to Moreton. The ­island has two main landing points – one near the Wrecks, where a car ferry drops campers and ­visitors, and the other is the jetty at the Tangalooma Island Resort. Resort director Trevor Hassard, 55, has worked at the popular tourist ­destination for 27 years and lives in the island township of Cowan Cowan, with a population of 14. He is very aware of the risk cane toads pose to Moreton’s environment and ensures the resort is fully committed to the cane-toad prevention program.

“Moreton has no sealed roads, utilities or major services you find on the mainland; it’s like a frontier, and it’s worth protecting,” Hassard says.

Professor Shine, who’s studied cane toad behaviour FOR MORE Than four decades, believes the biggest challenge to eradicating the cane toad is its prolific ability to ­reproduce.

“Simply removing adult toads is futile by itself, because a female can lay 30,000 eggs in a clutch,” Shine says. “To ­reduce toad numbers, the first and most critical step is to stop them breeding.”

Capon and Shine have collaborated on investigating control methods. Using Shine’s background as an ecologist and Capon’s interest in the chemical basis behind ­behaviour, the pair is confident the key to controlling cane toads lies in their life cycle. Their research has shown that after hatching, tadpoles hunt out and devour eggs laid by other ­females.

“As the masses of eggs hatch into tadpoles, their mission in their short life is to search for the eggs from other ­females and eat them,” explains Capon. “The eggs have a defensive chemistry (a toxin) laid by the female which ­protects the eggs from other predators. This toxin is related to the toxin of the adult toad. The chemistry creates a plume in the waterway, which the tadpoles sense, following it to the source where they eventually find eggs.”

The professors have created an innovative tadpole-­control method using a bait that replicates the chemical toxin created by the female toad. The bait is placed inside a funnel, which lures the tadpoles in and they become trapped. Much in the manner of a mousetrap, the scientists have created an econom­ical, easy-to-use device to outwit their quarry.

Capon and Shine believe their tadpole control method is such a smart solution they’ve patented it, hoping to eventually sell it in hardware stores.

“The advantage of our method is we get the cane toad before it’s running around the countryside, wreaking havoc,” Capon says excitedly. “And it’s a lot less squeamish killing tadpoles than fully grown adult toads.”

Although it hasn’t been used yet on Moreton, Capon says they’ve run small trials of their tadpole trap in other areas around southeast Queensland.

“To validate the ­impact tadpole trapping has on cane toad numbers will ­require at least three years,” he says.

The pair hopes to have the resources in place to test their ­method in areas overrun with cane toads during the next breeding season (from ­December to March). In the meantime, the cane-toad detection dogs continue to play their part in helping Moreton remain cane toad-free. ■