The Strategy......is simple
WHAT
Expose native predators to small doses of Cane toad toxin that make them sick but don't kill them ('teaching' them that toads are bad).
WHEN
Just before these animals meet the oncoming Cane toad invasion in the wild.
HOW
Distribute small Cane toads or Cane toad sausages (i.e. made of toad flesh) in areas of the landscape with high predator abundance.
It's likely that all vertebrate species (even us) have the ability to develop taste aversion. This is because taste aversion enables animals to:
i) detect that an ingested substance was toxic;
ii) create a strong physiological association between taste and toxicity;
iii) shift their foraging behaviour to avoid these dangerous meals in the future (substance aversion).
Taste Aversion, therefore, is a powerful protective response that enables animals to survive alongside poisonous substances in the wild.
The only caveat - the initial dose can't be fatal!
VIDEO: Premise of CTA toad aversion and CTA deployment on the landscape scale
Putting it into practice
Our field studies have shown that we can harness an animal's natural ability to develop taste aversion to affect its own conservation when faced with the cane toad invasion. Animals can develop strong aversions after only one experience with a small cane toad.
Here is an example. In the video below 'Macca' a wild floodplain monitor has his first trial with a small toad. This is the first time he has seen one so he gobbles it down.
The next clip shows Macca a month later, in a subsequent trial. He investigates the small toad extensively but recognises it by sight and smell, then leaves it alone. Macca survived in toad-infested areas until the end of the study (three years later). If the first toad he had met was a big one at the invasion front, he wouldn't be here today!
VIDEO: Macca's CTA trials in the wild
Where do we focus our effort?
Apex predators are 'bang for buck' when it comes to Cane toad impact mitigation strategies. This is because apex predators maintain ecosystem stability through predatory relationships from the top down. Maintaining healthy populations of predators in the system keep things running as they have been, in balance. It's when a new predator is added into the system (eg. cats) or a native one is taken out (eg. goannas) that chaos happens.
Take the Yellow-spotted Monitor for example. Below you will see some of the interactions it engages in within its ecosystem (Fig 1.). Through predation, these monitors keep meso(middle) -predators in check, such as medium sized snakes and even cats. But when goannas decline, these meso-predators breed up and exert enormous predation pressure on small birds, mammals and lizards (Fig 2.), causing declines in these species also. Furthermore, large pythons suddenly have substantially less prey in the environment.
Food webs exist in balance; small changes can have big impacts. Preserve the native predators, preserve the balance and the rest will follow.
Figure 1. A goanna's ecological web
Figure 2. One chain of predation within northern ecosystems. What happens when goannas decline?
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
-
What is an FAQ section?An FAQ section can be used to quickly answer common questions about your business like "Where do you ship to?", "What are your opening hours?", or "How can I book a service?".
-
Why do FAQs matter?FAQs are a great way to help site visitors find quick answers to common questions about your business and create a better navigation experience.
-
Where can I add my FAQs?FAQs can be added to any page on your site or to your Wix mobile app, giving access to members on the go.
-
How do I add a new question & answer?To add a new FAQ follow these steps: 1. Manage FAQs from your site dashboard or in the Editor 2. Add a new question & answer 3. Assign your FAQ to a category 4. Save and publish. You can always come back and edit your FAQs.
-
Can I insert an image, video, or GIF in my FAQ?Yes. To add media follow these steps: 1. Manage FAQs from your site dashboard or in the Editor 2. Create a new FAQ or edit an existing one 3. From the answer text box click on the video, image or GIF icon 4. Add media from your library and save.
-
How do I edit or remove the 'Frequently Asked Questions' title?You can edit the title from the FAQ 'Settings' tab in the Editor. To remove the title from your mobile app go to the 'Site & App' tab in your Owner's app and customize.