Thousands killed in "Toad Day Out"

27 Mar 2011, 3:17 pm   -   Source: AAP
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Fourteen thousands cane toads have been killed in north Queensland.

Fourteen thousands cane toads have been killed in north Queensland.

Residents have rallied in north Queensland to eliminate 14,000 poisonous pests in the third annual "Toad Day Out".

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A toad-killing spree in north Queensland has eliminated 14,000 of the environmental pests in the third annual "Toad Day Out".

The event is the brainchild of Queensland state MP for Dalrymple Shane Knuth - a stereotypically no-nonsense north Queenslander.

Mr Knuth hates cane toads, as do most people in his region.

So volunteers were rallied again this year on Saturday night, with Townsville, Charters Towers and Cairns the designated killing fields.

"We collected up to 14,000 canetoads, that's 4000 more than last year," Mr Knuth told AAP.

Townsville residents hunted down the most critters, catching 7165 alive, followed by 3776 in Charters Towers and 3059 in Cairns.

Mr Knuth said the cull would substantially reduce the spread of toads by preventing the births of millions of offspring down the line.

About half of the toads caught were females, which are each capable of producing 20,000 eggs each in their life spans.

"This has the potential in the long run to wipe out 100,000 million cane toads," Mr Knuth said.

For those who are squirming at the thought of golf clubs or cricket bats swinging relentlessly through the night, rest assured, all of the toads were humanely killed.

They were bagged, gassed with CO2 and then frozen.

"It's a very quick death," Mr Knuth said.

Some toads will be used by James Cook University for research. Others will go to taxidermists and sold for their skin.

The Toad Day Out was inspired by a 1993 episode of The Simpsons TV cartoon show, in which residents were called upon to beat as many snakes to death as possible for the annual "whacking day".

The number of cane toads across Australia is estimated at more than 200 million, and with recent scientific studies suggesting evolution is helping the species spread faster, the battle against them might seem futile.

Cane toads were introduced to Queensland from the Americas in 1935 to control scarab beetles that infested sugar cane.

The Australian Museum says that by the early 21st century, cane toad populations had exploded throughout the eastern and northern parts of Queensland and extended to river catchments surrounding Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory and into northern NSW.

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