Tuesday, March 27, 2007

"Monster" Toad Caught Down Under

An environmental group said Tuesday it had captured a "monster" toad the size of a small dog. With a body the size of a football and weighing nearly 2 pounds, the toad is among the largest specimens ever captured in Australia, according to Frogwatch coordinator Graeme Sawyer. "It's huge, to put it mildly," he said. "The biggest toads are usually females but this one was a rampant male ... I would hate to meet his big sister." Frogwatch, which is dedicated to wiping out a toxic toad species that has killed countless Australian animals, picked up the 15-inch-long cane toad during a raid on a pond outside the northern city of Darwin late Monday.

1 comment:

Jan said...

This is yet another case where humans try to improve on nature and upset the ecosystem. Cane toads were brought in to eat bugs from the sugar crop, but they couldn't do it. Without natural enemies, they are multiplying in frightening numbers and growing huge.

Sniffer Dogs have been brought in to keep them confined to one geographical area.