Water rats – a solution for the cane toad problem?

Cane toads make life difficult for Australian native animals. Even crocodiles die if they eat the poisonous toads. For many decades, scientists have been trying to find a way to control the invasive species. Now there are sensational new insights into how to possibly finally stop the constant advance of the cane toads. Once again there is a plan to eradicate a plague with the help of another animal - hopefully it will work this time, because the cane toads were originally introduced to eliminate another pest species, the cane beetle, and then turned into a nuisance themselves. But the water rats in the north of Australia are native animals and apparently super smart. They dissect the cane toads before they eat them and remove the venomous gallbladder.

Eine noch sehr kleine Aga-Kröte Source: Barbara Barkhausen