Why is the cane toad a threat?
Cane toads have an impressive array of highly toxic chemical defenses available to them at almost all stages of their lives. The toxins occur in their skin and organs and can be secreted by large glands at the back of the animal’s head when it is threatened. As a result, toads will poison many predators that attempt to eat them. Much anecdotal and some documented evidence exists around cane toad impacts on native predators, including quolls, snakes, goannas and freshwater crocodiles, all of which may be lethally poisoned when they attempt to eat toads. Although some may recover, many individual predators die when they are first exposed to cane toads and population scale impacts soon become apparent. Uncertainty exists as to the degree of recovery of populations of native species that attempt to eat cane toads and are affected by the toad toxins. There is anecdotal evidence that as cane toad infestations persist and becomes established, some populations of native species begin to recove
