Droughts, fire, flood give invasive pest opportunity to spread

Drought, fire and floods have allowed one of Australia’s most devastating ecological pests to break containment lines in the Clarence Valley.

The current cane toad biosecurity zone: red indicates a toad-free area, yellow indicates a buffer area (toads could be present) and green indicates an established cane toad area. Photo: NSW DPI

Drought, fire and floods have allowed one of Australia’s most devastating ecological pests, the cane toad, to break containment lines in the Clarence Valley.

Clarence Landcare spokeswoman Kelly McRae has warned that landowners need to act now in order to stop the spread.

“Cane toads appear to be more mobile than we’ve seen in previous years and it’s thought that bushfires have somewhat contributed to this by clearing ground cover, making their ability to spread much easier,” she said.

The Clarence Valley has long been considered the southern containment line for cane toads in NSW, however recent sightings in ‘toad free’ zones have raised the alarm for local conservation management groups.

“A colony of cane toads were found to be on private property at Mountainview just outside of Grafton before Christmas … two hitchhiker toads were also recently located in South Grafton in two separate incidents,” Ms McRae said.

“What seems to be an alert of a potential breed site at Lawrence is also of serious concern and we are looking to track and manage these new outbreaks as quickly as possible.”

How to identify a cane toad: Click here for detailed information on how to identify a cane toad.

Ms McRae said that while Clarence Landcare has cane toad controllers on the ground to disrupt breeding in hotspot areas, it’s landholders who also play a crucial role in the fight against this invasive pest.

“Thanks to the diligence of the landholders at Mountain View, collecting and controlling consistently over a period of a couple of months has all but rid that property of cane toads,” she said.

Manual control methods such as this have been scientifically proven to make a significant impact to toad migration and population growth.

In a 2019 interview with The Daily Examiner, founder of Clarence Valley Climate in Action Landcare, Sharon Lehman, said that these efforts had managed to hold the southern line of toad advance in the Clarence Valley over a period of 10 years.

“We've worked closely with Rick Shine (Professor of Biology at Sydney University),” Ms Lehman said.

“When they first got into contact with us they said manual control would not work. Now they’re basically stunned at what we’ve achieved and have got three PhD students working on what we’ve done here.”

As for the recent outbreak, Ms McRae said Landcare were holding information sessions to arm the community with the best strategy for attack.

“This really is the time to be aware of their presence in the Clarence Valley and be on the lookout for toads in new areas,” she said.

“These family friendly events aim to provide information about how to manage cane toads as well as ways in which we can support community groups to form and co-ordinate.”

Anyone wishing to report a cane toad, attend a session or to find out when a session is coming to their neighbourhood, please contact Ms McRae via email: [e-mail].

CURRENT INFORMATION SESSIONS

Harwood Hotel
Wednesday April 14, 5pm
Meals can be ordered from the bistro

Brooms Head Community Hall
Thursday April 15, 5pm
Light supper provided