It’s raining toxic toad sausages in lifeline to the quoll

[Gob]

Now there's a headline you don't see that often!

Anyone witnessing toads raining down from the sky would be forgiven for assuming that freak weather or biblical wrath were responsible. In northern Australia, however, aerial deployment of toads is a radical way of trying to save a bushy-tailed marsupial from extinction.

By showering the landscape with toad sausages that make the endangered quoll nauseous, scientists believe that they can deter them from eating poisonous cane toads.

The cat-sized quoll was once widespread in northern Australia and Papua New Guinea, but its population has plummeted since the toxic toad was introduced to Australia in 1935.

Eating a single toad is normally enough to kill a quoll, meaning that in the wild the animals never have the chance to learn not to eat them. The toads have driven quolls to extinction in many parts of northern Australia and will soon invade the Kimberley region, one of the quolls’ last strongholds.

The animals have a dappled coat and bushy tail and females have a pouch that opens when they are rearing young.

In a laboratory setting, scientists from Sydney University fed quolls small toads laced with the poison thiabendazole. The dose was not enough to be harmful, but the sickness the quolls experienced was enough to put them off eating the toads again.

The team is preparing to implement the technique on a large scale, with plans to drop toad sausages from an aircraft.

“If you can teach a predator that cane toads make you sick, then that predator will leave them alone afterwards. As a result, animals like quolls can survive in the wild even in a toadinfested landscape,” said Jonathan Webb, an ecologist at the University of Sydney, who led the study. However, the scientists first need to ensure that other endangered species, such as goanna or blue-tongue lizards, would not be put at risk.

In the study, published in the British Ecological Society’s Journal of Applied Ecology, the Sydney team collected 62 adult quolls from the Territory Wildlife Park and taught half of them, the so-called “toad-smart” group, to associate eating a cane toad with feeling sick. A few days before the quolls were reintroduced to the wild, the toad-smart group were fed a small dead cane toad laced with thiabendazole.

The toad was not large enough to kill the quoll but the chemical made them feel ill. To test whether the taste aversion process worked, both groups of quolls were given a small, live cane toad in a plastic container to see whether or not they attacked it. Their behaviour was videoed using a hidden camera, and the quolls were then fitted with radio collars and released.

The conditioned quolls were less likely to attack the toad in the plastic container, and once released into the wild survived up to five times longer than “toad-naive” quolls.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/e ... 096349.ece

[tyro]

May toad-naive quolls fill your boots mate.

[Sean]

Ah the traditional Australian blessing.

[The Hen]

I love quolls, me.

[kristina]

Awww...he/she's cute!

Why were the cane toads introduced? (too lazy to look it up...)

[Gob]

To keep down bugs (cane beetles) which were eating the sugar cane crop...

[kristina]

unintended consequences yet again!

[Gob]

Yep...

At least toad sausages cannot breed

[Sean]

Cane toads have got to be one of the biggest ecological fuck ups in this country. In Queensland we are encouraged to kill them on sight. Driving up the mountain at night after a rain shower has become a blood sport!

[The Hen]

Absolutely.

We did learn from that mistake. Now everything is battened down as mush as logistically possible, and we will question you, unendingly upon your arrival you this country, as to whether you have been in contact with, or have on your person, any products from bees, plants, animals, insects, grape vines etc etc.

You should see the paperwork to get in any bugs for scientific research. Phenomenal.

[Crackpot]

What about fungi?

[Scooter]

Friends have told me that they were given a hard time about visible dirt on their shoes when landing in Oz.

[Gob]

Yes they would have, I've been subjected to it myself. Once the captain of the plane we flew in on got a right bollocking off customs for trying to sneak a pair of hiking boots through. Now THAT was fun to watch, especially as all the cabin totty were with him.

Prohibited Goods - The following goods must be declared:

* Seeds and nuts - includes commercially packaged seeds, seed ornaments and necklaces (some seeds are prohibited), nuts out of shell such as salted nuts, in foil or roasted
* Plant products - straw packaging, wooden articles, artifacts, handicrafts and curios - includes wreaths and decorations made of cereal or grain, articles stuffed with seeds or straw, carvings, items made from palm fronds or leaves (items made from banana leaves are prohibited)
* Animal products - includes any items made with rawhide, such as drums, shields, artifacts, dog chews; and any treated skins, hides, furs, hair or feathers (some may be prohibited under international wildlife legislation)
* Food - includes cooked, uncooked and ingredients
* Dried fruit and vegetables
* Herbs and spices of any kind - includes herbal medicines and remedies, tonics, teas
* Biscuits, cakes and confectionery - includes chocolate, sweets, crisps, nuts, pretzels
* Noodles and rice - includes processed and instant meals (noodles containing meat are prohibited)
* Teas, coffees, and milk based drinks
* Bamboo, cane or rattan basketware and mats - including coconut carvings, cane baskets
* Wooden articles - includes painted and lacquered items
* Fresh flowers and leis - (flowers that can be propagated such as roses, carnations and chrysanthemums, are prohibited)
* Dried flower arrangements
* Pine cones and potpourri - includes natural and decorative products such as wreaths
* Shells or coral in any form - includes jewellery, curios and souvenirs (some may be prohibited under international wildlife legislation)
* Feathers, bones, horns and tusks - must be clean and free of blood, skin, dung or soil
* Stuffed animals - must be accompanied by a certificate stating that they have been prepared by a taxidermist (some may be prohibited under international wildlife legislation)
* Wool (unprocessed) and animal hair - includes yarns, crafted rugs and clothing. Wool must be scoured and hair cleaned
* Animal equipment (used) - includes clothing, footwear, grooming and veterinary equipment, saddles, bridles and birdcages
* Sporting and camping equipment - includes tents, footwear, hiking boots, golfing equipment and bicycles
* Bee products

strawGoods you cannot bring:

* Dairy, eggs and egg products
Includes whole, dried and powdered egg and some products with egg as an ingredient (infant formula accompanying an infant, and NZ dairy products are allowed)
* Live animals
Includes birds, birds' eggs, fish, reptiles and insects
* Meat and meat products
Includes all uncanned or fresh, dried, frozen, smoked or salted meat
* Seeds and nuts
Includes raw unroasted nuts, raw peanuts, chestnuts and popping corn
* Fresh fruit and vegetables
Includes all fresh and frozen fruit and vegetables
* Live plants
Includes cuttings, roots, bulbs, corns, rhizomes and stems
* Handicrafts and souvenirs that contain or are made from seeds
* Salmon and trout products - ask about special import conditions (canned salmon is allowed)
* Biological materials - includes human/animal vaccines and therapeutic goods (ask about special import conditions)
* Deer horn/velvet, edible birds nest packaged products - deer horn and/or antler from NZ are allowed (with certification)
* Soil and sand - includes items filled with soil or sand (rocks free of soil and sand are allowed)

[The Hen]

Crackpot - Fungi is DEFINITELY out.

If we could, we'd ask you all to strip of so we could burn your infested clothes and give you a natty little paper outfit to wear whilst you were in Oz.

[Crackpot]

So they don't allow you in the country if you have athletes foot?

[Gob]

Why, are you selling one of Usain Bolt's?

[tyro]

* Food - includes cooked, uncooked and ingredients

With that said, what is the point of adding:

* Dried fruit and vegetables
* Herbs and spices of any kind - includes herbal medicines and remedies, tonics, teas
* Biscuits, cakes and confectionery - includes chocolate, sweets, crisps, nuts, pretzels
* Noodles and rice - includes processed and instant meals (noodles containing meat are prohibited)
* Teas, coffees, and milk based drinks

[Scooter]

Because people are stupid?

[loCAtek]

I love quolls, me.

In the meantime, you can rent some of our native marsupials? With the high rainfall this winter we have loads of possum casually meandering all over the place. Was a baby one in the driveway last night!