Toad News

An Australian man has searched East Timor for rumored cane toads, and only found Asian toads. (News source.)

Cane toad "sausages" are being made in Queensland, and laced with harmless but noxious chemicals, to feed to quolls, in the hope that they don't try to eat live toads. (News source.)

Toad survival traits are making the news after a recent study.

Cane Toad Update

Cane toad fighters in Australia are upset now that the government is reconsidering the legality of using carbon dioxide to kill the invasive amphibians. They are concerned that it may be cruel, in which case the fighters would have to go back to whacking them with golf clubs. (News source.)

One Australian is looking at the toads as an opportunity to sell toad poison and meat to the Chinese. (News source.)

Toads Released

Endangered captive-born Houston toads have been released into the wild by the Houston, TX, Zoo. (News source.)

Amargosa Toad

The USFWS will be reviewing the Amargosa toad, "found only along a 10-mile stretch of the Amargosa River in the Mojave Desert near Beatty, 120 miles northwest of Las Vegas," for inclusion on the Endangered Species list. (News source.)

Spadefoots

The Great Basin spadefoot is profiled here.

Oddities Here and There

"Tens of thousands" of newly hatched western toads have taken over Marysville, California. (News source.)

A family in the Bronx found a yellow rat snake in their home. (News source.)

Not so much odd as sad, a canebrake ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time. (News source.)

Crimes of a Herpetological Nature

Two suspects in Alabama were arrested for bludgeoning turtles to death. (News source.)

Individuals in the Democratic Republic of Congo are being tricked by con artists into thinking their diseases and illnesses are actually being caused by poisons (from local plants, lizards and toads), requiring payment for healing. (News source.)

New Vietnam Species

A new pitviper, lizard, toad, and burrowing snake have been discovered.

Frog and Toad News

Half of the zoo population of Archey's frogs at Auckland Zoo have died, apparently due to husbandry difficulties. (News source.)

Research shows that European tree frog females prefer a male with a reddish vocal sac. (News source.)

An oversized cane toad found in Australia was discovered to have eaten several whole crabs and molluscs. (News source.)

Mapping Toad Paths

A UK conservation group is mapping road crossings by migrating toads with a Google Earth application. (News source.)

Amphibians

A new (strange-looking) toad found in Tanzania, pictured here.

Researchers are looking at a compound in tadpoles as a potential resource to prevent skin cancer. (News source.)

Invasion News

Goannas in Kakadu have been decimated by the cane toad. (News source.)

Some people (very few people) in Hawaii want to protect the invasive coqui. (News source.)

Cane Toad Changes

The rapid morphological changes discovered along the leading edge of the cane toad's invasive population in Australia has also brought on detrimental effects (spinal arthritis) not seen before in amphibians. (News source.)

Herp Conservation

Mexico City axolotyls are in danger of disappearing. (News source.)

The Western Australia government is giving $1.2 million to a toad busting group to fight cane toads. (News source.)

Amphibians are dying off at Yellowstone. (News source.)

Amphibian Diversity Fights Parasites

Parasite load in American toads dropped when they raised in the same tank as gray tree frogs. Gray tree frogs could fight off infestations better than toads. Not sure why the researcher is saying the two amphibians are competitors -- they obviously are in different niches, unless they're referring to the tadpole stage. (News source.)

Cane Toads Edible?

A TV host from American tried out a new recipe for Australia's invading cane toads. (News source.)

An anti-cane toad group killed over 50,000 toads on a Northern Territories ranch over two weeks. (News source.)

CB Program Infected Toads

Here's a study on a captive breeding program for the Mallorcan midwife toad that introduced chytrid-infected toads into the wild. The toads themselves were infected through proximity to a cb program for a rare Xenopus species.

Timor Toads are Natives

Photos of alleged cane toads supposedly introduced into East Timor (an environmental group accused Australian military forces) were examined by experts and determined to be the Asian black-spined toad, not the invasive cane toad. (News source.) The Asian black-spined toad is native to Indonesia, and is expanding its range naturally.

Cane Toads in East Timor

The Australian Defense Force is fighting rumors that it accidentally introduced cane toads into East Timor in 1999. (News source.) [The U.S. military accidentally introduced brown tree snakes into Guam, so it's not inconceivable.)

Toad Conservation

The Bronx Zoo is breeding Kihansi spray toads. (News source.)

Cane Toads

Colder temperatures may limit the cane toad's spread into southern Australia. (News source.)

New Toad in Ecuador

From Zootaxa:

A new species of Osornophryne (Anura: Bufonidae) from the Andean highlands of northern Ecuador
Andrew G. Gluesenkamp (USA) & Juan M. Guayasamin (Ecuador)
Zootaxa 1828: 18-28 (23 Jul. 2008) 5 plates; 15 references
Abstract here.

Cane Toad Snake Snack

A cane toad was photographed chowing down on a keelback in Australia. (News source.)

Frog & Toad News

An orange-morph garden frog was found in the UK. (News source.)

Researchers are using a "robo-frog" to test mating call variations. (News source.)

Fewer than 1% of all cane toad hatchlings survive to adulthood in Australia, but that small number is still a threat, increasing the population. (News source.)

Boreal Toad Anomaly

The boreal toads in Colorado are dying off from the chytrid fungus, but it doesn't seem to be killing the populations in Wyoming or Montana (despite being present). Researchers are investigating the apparent immunity... (News source.)

Toad Weapon

Alarm chemicals might be the next weapon against the invasive cane toad in Australia... (News source.)

Amphibian News

Researchers are investigating how toads use their muscles to quickly snatch insects with their tongue. (News source.)

More tests show that probiotic bacteria may help frogs fight skin diseases. (News source.)

Croc Issues

Crocodiles are dying at Kruger National Park, investigations underway. (News source.)

Cane toads are killing freshwater crocs in Australia. (News source.)

A dog that survived a gator attack died from bite-related infections. (News source.)

Natterjack Funding

Improvement funding is coming for several sites in Cumbria (UK) that are home to the rare natterjack toad. (News source.)

Toad Venom Drug Kills

A New York man died after ingesting a toad-toxin based "aphrodisiac."
Toads don't kill people; stupidity kills people. (News source.)

Toads to Fight Toads

Another strategy for fighting cane toads in Australia: release small sterile male cane toads in areas without infestation to "teach" local predators that they're not suitable prey. (News source.)

Cane Toads vs Dogs

Five dogs have died in a week in the Northern Territories from cane toad poisoning. (News source.)

Cane Toads

A parasitic worm may be the latest weapon in Australia's fight against the invasive cane toads. (News source.)

Sydney's Australian Museum is drawing the ire of Northern Territory residents because it put up husbandry instructions for cane toads. (News source.)

Toad-Culling Day

Plans are afoot to create a Queensland (Australian) toad-whacking day against the invasive cane toads. The RSPCA will only support it if toads are killed by freezing. (News source.)

Toads vs Quoll

The WWF is warning that a quoll population is in danger from the expanding cane toad invasion. (News source.)

Toads vs Cancer

Australian scientists are investigating toad toxins for anti-cancer purposes. (News source.)

UK: Natterjack Concerns

Chytrid fungus has been found in Walney, Cumbria, raising concerns for the local natterjack toad population. (News source.)

Toads Kill Crocodiles

Ten freshwater crocodiles were found dead after eating cane toads, "on Auvergne Station near the Northern Territory and Western Australia border." (News source.)

Toad Reintroduction

New Mexico officials are planning to reintroduce a rare subspecies of the boreal toad to Rio Arriba County, NM. The last reported sighting in that county was in 1996. Once common, the toads have been decimated by the chytrid fungus. (News source.)

Cane Toads

Flooding in Queensland is sweeping cane toads faster than natural dispersal rates would normally distribute them. (News source.)

Malaysia: Death by Toad

During a fishing trip, a Malaysian man caught and cooked a toad, eating it and its eggs, sharing it with his nephew. Shortly after, they began foaming at the mouth and vomiting. They were rushed to the hospital, but the man died on the way. The nephew is recovering. (News source.)

Toad Traffic

Some Berks County, Pennsylvania, developers will be adding signs within a development warning traffic of the presence of the state-endangered Eastern spadefoot toads. (News source.)

Toad Loan

The World Bank is loaning Tanzania 3.5 million for environmental protection of the habitat of the endangered Kihansi Spray Toad. Captive-born toads are expected to be released in stages over the next year. (News source.)

Toad Fight Continues

Efforts to stem the tide of cane toads in Darwin, Australia, appear to be working. (News source.)

Tadpoles Go Home

Several hundred Puerto Rican crested toad tadpoles are being sent back to their homeland after being hatched at the Miami-Dade zoo. (News source.)

Man Charged with Intent to Lick

A 21-year old Kansas City man was charged with possessing a Colorado River toad, with intent to lick it for hallucinogenic purposes. (News source.)

Natterjack Conservation

Farmers in Co. Kerry, Ireland, (or at least specified zones in the county) are being offered payments to dig shallow ponds for the rare natterjack toad. (News source.)

Amphibian Research

First, an article on research into frogs in Sri Lanka.

Also, some research into the occasional cross-breeding of spadefoot toad species.

Bufo Fatality

Another case of a dog killed in southern Florida, after biting a marine toad. (News source.)

Aussie Govt. vs Toads

There are claims by FrogWatch (shouldn't that be ToadWatch?) that the government in Australia is not doing enough to help stop the spread of invasive cane toads. (News source)

Fighting Cane Toads

Australian researchers are looking at another weapon against the invasive cane toads: spinal disease. (News source.)

More on Cane Toads

Researchers want toad-proof fencing set up between the Northern Territories and Western Australia to protect the latter. (News source.)

Drought around Brisbane appears to be reducing cane toads in that location. (News source.)

Cane Toads Expanding

The invasive cane toad may be expanding its range into Western Australia in spite of the best efforts of biologists to stop it. (News source.)

Toad Genome

Australian scientists are working on a cane toad genome program, to identify the invasive species' weaknesses. (News source.)

Cane Toads

When trapping cane toads, use soft mating calls rather than loud ones, research suggests. (News source.)

Dwarf Crocs in Trouble

A population of dwarf freshwater crocodiles in north Australia may be in danger of an invasion by the cane toads. (News source.)

Crows Eat Cane Toads

Folks in Darwin, Australia, have observed that crows have figured out how to safely eat the invasive noxious cane toad. (News source.)

Wyoming Toad Conservation

40 Wyoming toadlets are being raised at the Detroit Zoo, and will eventually be either sent to other conservation breeding facilities or released into the wild. (News source.)

Toads Cross the Road

A surprise emergence of western toadlets in British Columbia is causing problems as volunteers are trying to help the amphibians as they cross a road. (News source.)

Toad vs Dog

A 20-lb terrier in Florida died after biting a cane toad. (News source.)

Mosquitos vs Toads

A biologist discusses how eliminating standing water for mosquito prevention can affect a spadefoot toad population, which feed on mosquitos. (News source.)

PA: Toad Halts Road

Spadefoot toads, rare in Pennsylvania, have killed a road project due to concerns over a Northumberland County wetlands where they have been found. (News source)

Natterjacks

Conservation efforts are attempting to stop the decline of natterjack toads on Norfolk (UK) dunes. (News source.)

Australia and Cane Toad Menace

One researcher of the cane toad invasion in Australia suggests that the species is beginning to integrate within Australian ecosystems with less harm to natives than originally reported by conservationists. (News source.)

Toad Emergence Imminent

An Oregon nature center is watching as hundreds of thousands small Western toadlets gather for mass emergence from the ponds. (News source.)

Spadefoot Toads

A Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks officer talks about spadefoot toads here.

Parasite for Fighting Cane Toads

Another potential weapon against invasive cane toads in Australia: parasitic lungworms. (News source.)

Cane Toad Spray

An Australian company is developing a spray that will anesthetize and kill marine toads humanely. (News source.)

Cleveland Zoo Breeding Toads

Cleveland Metroparks Zoo has spent 10 years trying to breed the endangered Puerto Rican Crested Toads, and this year have 20 new offspring to raise. (News source.)

Toad Tunnel Didn't Work

A famed "toad tunnel" built in Yolo County, California, to protect amphibians crossing roads was apparently rarely used. The local toad population appears to have vanished. (News source.)

Cane Toads in Samoa

A cane toad has been discovered on Samoa, and other sightings have been documented, causing officials to start an awareness campaign to help prevent its full introduction. The pest species is already found on American Samoa and Fiji. (News source.)

Cane Toad Virus

Scientists have been working for five years on a virus that will keep cane toads from reproducing. (This should effectively halt the spread of this introduced species in Australia, similar to the success with introduced rabbits.) They are now testing the virus to make certain it only affects the toads and not native species of amphibians. (News source.)

Cane Toad Cannibalism

Australian scientists are suggesting that conservation efforts attempting to reduce the population of the introduced cane toad focus on the species' prediliction for cannibalism. Adult toads will wave a toe on one of their hind limbs to lure in small toads, then pounce. (News source.)