Cane toads kill Australian freshwater crocodiles

This video from Australia is called Freshwater crocodile movement.

From the Australian Broadcasting Corporation:

Crocodiles caned by advancing toads

Researchers from the University of Sydney have found that cane toads have caused a 75 per cent drop in freshwater crocodile numbers in the Northern Territory’s Victoria River District (VRD).

The researchers say this is first time that extensive research has confirmed anecdotal reports about the introduced pests’ effect on the native predator.

Researcher Doctor Mike Letnic, says they studied crocodile populations before and after the cane toad arrived in the district.

He says the worst damage was in the arid areas during the dry season.

“The rivers are essentially an oasis and the crocodiles live in the river, but the landscape is dry and during the dry season the cane toads congregate on the edge of the water where they encounter the crocodiles.

“They turn the table on the predator.”

He says freshwater crocs are more susceptible to the pest than their saltwater cousins.

“Saltwater crocodiles appear to be more resistant to the toxin than the freshwater crocodiles and the reason for that is probably because saltwater crocodiles occur throughout southern Asia where some toad species also exist, so it’s likely that the saltwater crocodiles evolved with species similar to cane toads.”

See also here.

Will pygmy crocodiles be first Australian species extinction from cane toads? Here.

Australian military intervention ‘brought cane toads to E Timor’: here.

Cane toad research gives some hope for Western Australian wildlife: here.

December 2013: The Australian saltwater crocodile’s reputation as the feistiest of all of all crocodiles is fully justified says researchers from Charles Darwin University in Australia: here.

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• Thank you for dealing with all of our crap – the humble dung beetle [& not so humble cane toad] (pipmarks.com)
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• Australian wildlife taught to shun cane toads (gloucestercitynews.net)
• Complexity of Systems (lee6ep.wordpress.com)
• Everyone Agreed: Cane Toads Would Be a Winner for Australia (Op-Ed) (livescience.com)
• Professor Rick Shine on snakes, cane toads… and mentors (blogs.abc.net.au)
• The Interacting Effects of Ungulate Hoofprints and Predatory Native Ants on Metamorph Cane Toads in Tropical Australia (plosone.org)
• Meet Fifi, the face of Australia’s campaign to rid itself of ‘unstoppable eating machine’ cane toads (dailymail.co.uk)

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