What is the impact of introducing the cane toad to Australia?

Answer 1

Cane toads have become an ecological disaster in Australia. They eat the native wildlife, but have no natural predators. Cand toads eat native frog species, as well as other small burds and mammals, and they compete directly with native frogs and other species for food. Many native frog species are at risk of extinction as a result of the cane toad population.

The only animals that have worked out how to eat them safely are crows, which flip the toads over and eat the soft underbelly, where there are no poison glands. Northern quolls have suffered huge population losses because habitat loss and the resultant drop in food sources has driven them to try to eat the cane toad, which has, of course, poisoned these mammals. Any native animal that normally eats frogs will be poisoned by the cane toad.

Cane toads are also continuing to spread south. They are remarkably adaptable creatures, and seem to be becoming hardier, adapting to a wide variety of habitats and climate conditions. They also breed prolifically, and wherever they populate, they push out the native species.

Answer 2

It started becoming an invasive species and making other species of amphibians compete for food.

Further information:

There is a great deal more to the problem of the cane toad in Australia than the simple answer given above. Cane toads have become an ecological disaster in Australia. Without any natural predators, apart from a few canny crows that have learnt to flip cane toads over and gouge out their bellies, cane toads are free to wreak their decimation upon native species. Cane toads eat native frog species, as well as other small birds and mammals, and they compete directly with native frogs and other species for food. Many native frog species are at risk of extinction as a result of the cane toad population.

Northern quolls are carnivorous marsupials that have suffered huge population losses due to cane toads. Habitat loss and the resultant drop in food sources has driven them to try to eat the cane toad, which has, of course, poisoned these mammals. Any native animal that normally eats frogs will be poisoned by the cane toad.

Cane toads are also continuing to spread south. They are remarkably adaptable creatures, and seem to be becoming hardier, adapting to a wide variety of habitats and climate conditions. They also breed prolifically, and wherever they populate, they push out the native species.

Answer 3

Making native frogs compete for food.