Cane toads

The Australian country back in the 1930’s has a booming industry in the production of raw materials especially in the field of sugar refinery. Because of such condition, it was actually on the dynamic standing of increasing its industrial capability for a more stable economy. However, there was an agricultural problem in the presence of sugar cane bugs which did some crop destructions even before the products were harvested which contributed to the non-optimal production of the said raw material.

In an approach to eradicate the bugs, the introduction of the cane toads came into consideration as they were believed to effectively eat bugs of those types destroying the sugar cane crops (FDR Project, 2005). In terms of physical geography, the northern part of Australia in which the frogs were first introduced provided a very good breeding location since it is near the tropical region which permitted suitable reproductive processes for the animals.

Even though the goal of the introducing of the cane toads was a positive approach, it was also considered to be a failure. It was primarily observed that the species does not jump very high in order to effectively capture the cane bugs infesting in the upper portion of the cane stalks. Also, when the larvae of the bugs were emerging from the ground, no toads were available due to contrasting seasons of breeding. One more negative result which can be realized is the fact that cane toads became an environmental disaster for Australia.

It has already altered the natural wildlife of the country by becoming a thereat to other animals. For example, some other reptiles like snakes were not really able to reduce the frog’s population due to the presence of the poison in its skin. Also, fishes which eat tadpoles of the frogs die because of the toxicity even in such an early stage. These events contributed to the imbalance of the ecosystem in Australia (DECC, 2007).