Monday, February 05, 2007
Cane toads in Fiji and in Queensland
There's one creature in Fiji that I really do not like though perhaps some people might think they have great personalities just like someone in Vanuatu reckons Peter Foster is a charming man!
They are of course in Queensland, Australia also. The first time I saw them was at a Fiji school where the toilets were just cement footprints on a slab and cane toads were hopping about which was very scary. In Australia they are gradually moving from Queensland and even into Northern Territory.
The Cane Toad has large poison glands, and adults and tadpoles are highly toxic to most animals if ingested. Because of its voracious appetite, the Cane Toad has been introduced to many regions of the Pacific and the Caribbean islands as a method of agricultural pest control, notably in the case of Australia in 1935, and derives its common name from its use against sugar cane pests. The Cane Toad itself is now considered a pest in many of its introduced regions, as its toxic skin kills many native predators when ingested.
Perhaps as the Interim government in Fiji is looking for creating wealth if other industries such as sugar and gold collapse, they could set up a factory to make flip-flops out of cane toad skin. Ugh!