Interestingly though, they have been introduced to many places for biological control of Cane Beetles to protect sugar cane, and in many cases they were quite successful. In terms of their intended purpose it was a pretty reasonable guess that they might have successfully dealt with the beetles, but it was always going to be an ecological disaster. That's easy to see in hindsight, but at the time there was very limited understanding (or care) of ecology.
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Interestingly though, they have been introduced to many places for biological control of Cane Beetles to protect sugar cane, and in many cases they were quite successful. In terms of their intended purpose it was a pretty reasonable guess that they might have successfully dealt with the beetles, but it was always going to be an ecological disaster. That's easy to see in hindsight, but at the time there was very limited understanding (or care) of ecology.
Flaviemys purvisi
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True. Like how Gambusia were introduced to control mosquitoes and Indian mynas to control grasshoppers... What a disaster.
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Does Venezuela have a cane toad problem aswell? Even if they “originated” there
Yeah, in hindsight it's easy to see these as idiotic, but given what was known and cared about at the time it's easy to understand why they made the mistakes. Definitely things to learn from on a continent like Australia, probably the most vulnerable landmass of much size on the planet. I would love to see what fish we'd have in southern Australia if we hadn't introduced any exotics.
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Why do you say "originated" in quotation marks? And why would an amphibian cause a problem in its native environment? They aren't exclusively native to Venezuela, but all in that general region (south and central America).
Pythonguy1
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Australia brings toads to control the cane beetles. Toads fail. Toads increase in population. Toads become destructive. Toads earn the name Cane Toads. Now thy're getting displayed at zoo's. In an educational sense I understand. But why go to a zoo to see a Cane Toad? There's so many of them!
WizardFromAus-
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Check your history. Cane Toads were already being used successfully to control Cane Beetles in places like Hawaii, which is why they were called Cane Toads. They were *then* brought to Australia to control Cane Beetles, but under Australian conditions it didn't work and they were an environmental pest.
They are a very significant part of Australia's history and current ecological situation and biosphere, making them an extremely relevant animal to have in a place with the goal of educating people about animals. Cane Toads are not common in NSW. They more or less don't exist in the Sydney area, and were not known to have been in the Sydney area back when that toad was put into the zoo in Sydney over 30 years ago. Many people living in Sydney have never seen a Cane Toad. Many people who visit Sydney have never seen a Cane Toad and they visit the zoo. I am a biologist, I have been chasing and playing with frogs and reptiles my whole life, I've spent a lot of time in and around Sydney and have never seen a toad in the Sydney area.
The Cane Toad is one of the most important animals to teach Australian people about because it so vividly demonstrates the potential damage that can be caused by invasive species. By having one on display while telling people about it, it makes the message much more relatable and sink in more. This would be the case even in a place like northern QLD where they are very common.
Even in places where education is not an issue and people are just coming to see animals for fun, we see things like Eastern Grey Kangaroos (a very common species very easy seen across Victoria including Melbourne) in Melbourne zoos, etc etc. You may not have any interest in seeing a toad in a zoo but that doesn't make it irrelevant for everyone. When I see things like Rabbits and Guinea Pigs in some zoos (both are quite common in Asian zoos) I find it comical and laugh, but i can understand why they do it. Keep in mind that zoos aren't catering to you personally, they're catering to as much of the public as possible.
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Another thing was the size of the Toad on display, alot of people dont realise how big they can get and think they are around the size of an average tree frog! nope!
it's a real eye opener
Pythonguy1
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What did I say wrong? They earned the name Cane Toad, right? They increased in numbers didn't they? They are bad for the environment aren't they. And they failed to control cane beetles in Australia. Also there's over 200 million of them in Australia, so there are alot of them. Plus, since the arrival of Cane Toads many native snake species have declined dramatically. Its great that the're educating the public on them (as they should) but but as an invasive species, I just dont see the inportance of them in Australia. I dont mean to get into an arguement or anything but thats just my opinion.
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Flaviemys purvisi
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Like the dingo, the cane toad isn't native to Australia but both have become embedded in Australia's ecology. Both are considered native now and with toads, many of our native animals like quolls (through human intervention with cane toad sausage trials) over time have begun to adapt and realise they are toxic and avoid them. Crows have learned to flip them over and eat the soft belly thus avoiding the poison glands on the animals back. It's important that every Australian learns about cane toads and be able to easily identify them because to the untrained eye, many native frog species look like small toads which is catastrophic when people think they're stomping on cane toads when in fact they're stomping on native frogs. Cane toads unfortunately are here to stay. I heard a couple of years back now that scientists had developed a potential virus that if introduced into the population, (like Calici and Myxo was with rabbits), it could potentially wipe cane toads out in Australia however it won't be released on the off chance that it somehow spread and made it to south America where it would have a catastrophic impact on a native species.
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Myxomatosis is messed up, we had a pet rabbit get it, eyes swollen, fever, panting, spasming... was terrible when we were like 10/11 years old and our parents weren’t home (at work)
The check your history part was just in reference to you saying (or perhaps implying) that they were introduced to Australia before earning the name Cane Toad, and the implication that it was a novel attempt to use them to control beetles, when in reality they'd already been used multiple times and places with significant success in controlling Cane Beetles. I don't for a moment dispute the damage they've done, it's absolutely tragic.
The bulk of my post was answering your question of why they're in a zoo, and the importance of it. Presumably if you were asking why they were in a zoo, you didn't know. There are many big, important reasons.
Pythonguy1
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At least some animals have adapted to Cane toads like Flav said. I heard that red-bellied black snakes have increased their body size to handle the Cane Toads poison when they eat them.
No, the animals that predate on the toads and the toads have a long history of coevolution. During that time the predators have adapted either a biological tolerance or a technique to nullify the toxins produced by the toad so that the toad can be safely preyed upon. Consequently, during that time the toads would have certainly increased in toxicity in order to discourage predation, causing further evolution in the predators. The process of natural selection.
Both of the above mentioned adaptions are happening in Australia, with some native predators adapting either approach to render the toads safe to eat.
Pythonguy1
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I watch Brians vlogs every day and just I'd share this one. I had no idea that he had a cain toad!
I love the "Egg Time" jingle
I love the "Egg Time" jingle
