Joining forces against an invader
The situation is dire for native predators that are threatened by the Cane toad invasion. The toads are marching into some of the last biodiversity strongholds in tropical Australia.
The Cane Toad Coalition is a powerful consortium made up of professional research, conservation and land management organisations concerned about this looming threat and committed to trialling the largest cane toad mitigation effort to date. Each organisation brings a unique set of resources, expertise and networks to the table to tackle this threat head-on.
Through our combined networks, The Cane Toad Coalition is also affiliated and works closely with many other reputable organisations, researchers and communities in this effort.
Never before have these organisations joined forces in such a way, leveraging off each other to give our wildlife the best fighting chance they can have.
In 2017 Rick Shine and Georgia Ward-Fear, then at the University of Sydney, (now at Macquarie University), in conjunction with this consortium of organisations, applied for and received funding from the Australian Research Council to undertake this ambitious conservation project from 2017 to 2021.
Due to the involvement of multiple organisations, efforts are spread over a large geographical area and target many native species. Adaptive management at its finest, the strategy is directed by over 15 years of Cane toad research - in particular, recent research into the learning ability of our native animals.
Dr. Georgia Ward-Fear
Dr. Georgia Ward-Fear is is a post-doc with Rick Shine at Macquarie University; she is a passionate wildlife biologist who has worked in the tropics and arid zone of Australia for the last 15 years.
Georgia specialises in invasion ecology and faunal conservation. In her work, Georgia engages widely with stakeholders to achieve holistic project outcomes.
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Prof. Rick Shine
Prof. Rick Shine is an evolutionary biologist and ecologist at Macquarie University. Rick uses reptiles and amphibians as model systems to explore evolutionary processes. In more recent years Rick has switched his focus from snakes to cane toads.
Rick believes his most valuable work involves the translation of evolutionary and ecological findings into conservation outcomes for imperilled species.
This project is funded and supported by the Australian Research Council
