{"id":41245,"date":"2024-08-19T12:15:54","date_gmt":"2024-08-19T10:15:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/332e4ae0-a075-4793-8651-f1c8a8b38aeb"},"modified":"2024-08-19T13:27:31","modified_gmt":"2024-08-19T11:27:31","slug":"we-chop-toads-in-half-and-hang-them-over-the-river-the-strange-experiment-thats-saving-crocodiles-in-australia","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/rss_feed\/we-chop-toads-in-half-and-hang-them-over-the-river-the-strange-experiment-thats-saving-crocodiles-in-australia\/","title":{"rendered":"“We chop toads in half and hang them over the river.” The strange experiment that’s saving crocodiles in Australia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scientists are using a method known as \u2018conditioned taste aversion\u2019 to stop freshwater crocodiles from eating toxic cane toads in north-west Australia. <\/p>

By <\/p>

Published: Monday, 19 August 2024 at 10:15 AM<\/p>

\n\n

We\u2019ve all been there. Who amongst us hasn\u2019t felt sick after eating something dodgy, and then pledged to avoid it for life? <\/strong><\/p>

Now the same strategy is being used to help freshwater crocodiles avoid eating toxic cane toads, according to a new study<\/a> published in\u00a0Proceedings of the Royal Society B.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>

The freshwater crocodile is a species of crocodile native to northern Australia. Credit: Cane Toad Alliance<\/figcaption><\/figure>Crocodile vs alligator: what’s the difference?<\/a><\/li><\/ul>
Cane toads produce a potent toxin that can be fatal to the species that consume them. Since their introduction to Australia in the 1930s, they have been decimating the native wildlife. This includes populations of freshwater crocodiles, which have been reduced by more than 70% in some areas. <\/p>
So, conservationists have been using a method called \u2018conditioned taste aversion\u2019 to teach crocs to avoid eating the toxic amphibians<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>
Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) in Western Australia have trialled a new way to protect freshwater crocodiles from deadly invasive cane toads spreading across northern Australia. Credit: \u00a0DBCA<\/figcaption><\/figure>
Working with Bunuba Indigenous rangers, researchers from Macquarie University in Sydney and colleagues collected more than 2000 dead cane toads and removed their poisonous parts. They then injected the cadavers with a drug that produces powerful nausea and hung the bait from sticks overhanging rivers in the Kimberley region of north-western Australia. <\/p>
Bits of untainted chicken meat were also dangled from sticks nearby, and motion capture cameras were set up, to catch the action that ensued.\u00a0<\/p>
\u201cThe first three days we noticed the crocodiles were taking the cane toads then they would go away… Then we noticed they would smell the cane toad before eating, and on the last day we noticed that it was mostly the chicken necks getting eaten,\u201d says local ranger Paul Bin Busu.<\/p>
$\"Cane$
Cane toad frontline in Western Australia. Credit: DBCA<\/figcaption><\/figure>
Crunching the numbers, the researchers concurred. The crocodiles quickly learned to avoid eating the baited cane toads, but critically, the effect still held when the crocs were faced with live toads. <\/p>
Areas where crocs completed the training went on to have greatly reduced mortality rates compared to unbaited control sites. <\/p>
Baiting completely prevented deaths in areas where cane toads were arriving for the first time, and decreased deaths by 95% in areas where the amphibians were already established.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>
$\"Bunuba$
The researchers worked with Bunuba Indigenous rangers. Credit: Cane Toad Alliance<\/figcaption><\/figure>
Conditioned taste aversion has been used to train other native Australian species, including quolls and monitor lizards, to avoid cane toads, but these have either been lab studies or small-scale field trials. This study demonstrates the feasibility of scaling things up.\u00a0<\/p>
\u201cThese are really exciting results because it provides land managers with tools to use ahead of the invasion, but also behind the invasion front\u201d says Sara McAllister from the Australian Wildlife Conservancy. <\/p>
\u201cTogether we\u2019ve shown that collaborations between academics, indigenous rangers and land management agencies can be really effective for conservation science.\u201d<\/p>
$\"Winjana$
Winjana Gorge, north-west Australia. Credit: Cane Toad Alliance<\/figcaption><\/figure>
Main image: Freshwater crocodile taking doctored cane toad bait. Credit: Georgia Ward-Fear<\/em><\/p>
More amazing wildlife stories<\/strong><\/p>
This blind, poop-eating cavefish from Mexico tastes with its head<\/a><\/li>
Scientists are using AI to save rare African forest elephants in the Congo Basin<\/a><\/li>
Komodo dragons have iron-tipped teeth<\/a><\/li>
Weird ‘frog saunas’ are popping up around Sydney \u2013 here’s why<\/a><\/li><\/ul> <\/body><\/html>\n
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