Portrait of a Pest

The cane toad (Bufo marinus) is a pest. A native of Central and South America, it was introduced to Australia in 1935 to control cane beetles. Since then, their population has exploded to over 200 million and they have had a negative impact on much of the native Australia fauna, since they are voracious predators.

Recent reports suggest that cane toads are evolving longer legs to help them with their migration. A number of native species are reported to have adapted ways of dealing with the toxins they secrete, but scientists are still working on ways to halt the spread of this predator including creating a gene to reverse the sex of female (i.e. breeding) cane toads.