Âé¶¹´«Ã½

Croaking hell

3 February 2001

Cane toads are poised to invade Australia’s Kakadu National Park, a World
Heritage Site. The toads were introduced in the 1930s to control sugar-cane
beetles, but are poisonous to native animals. They have now spread across
north-eastern Australia and may reach Kakadu in the next few weeks. Their spread
could threaten animals such as goannas, which some Aborigines in nearby Arnhem
Land still depend on for food. “These people have maintained a traditional
lifestyle in the face of 200 years of European settlement, but it may get
subverted by a toad,” says John Woinarski of the Northern Territory Parks and…

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