Oz cane toads on the rise

The cane toad front expands 40 to 60 km every year.

Between January 18th and 27th, thousands of volunteers in a band of territory stretching across north-eastern Australia from Darwin to Brisbane venture into the night with torches and collecting buckets. They are part of the Great Cane Toad Bust. Cane toads were introduced to Queensland in 1935 as a solution to the grey-backed beetle impacting the sugar cane industry. Today they are everywhere. Experts say there are at least 200 million of the pests. Cane toads are toxic at every life stage and are prolific breeders. Female cane toads can produce up to 35,000 eggs, sometimes twice a year. Cane toads are the poster child of invasive species.

Cane toads have toxic skin that kills native predators. Every year, the cane toads continue their inexorable march across the country. Few animals are reviled in Oz more than the white ibis. The too noisey 'bin chicken' has an iron stomach and scavenges food from anywhere. The native bird is earning new respect after it began eating cane toad.

Videos of white ibis "playing" with the toads has emerged. The clever ibis has learned to stress the toad, and then wash off the resulting toxin before consuming it whole. They won't run out of chow anytime soon.