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.)