A Queensland solution to getting the jump on invasive cane toads

An environmentally-friendly lure, developed by scientists at The University of Queensland, uses the pheromones from adult cane toads to trap tadpoles before they grow and reproduce.

Jointly developed by UQ’s Professor Rob Capon and Professor Rick Shine from the University of Sydney, the lure may help Australia get the jump on cane toads after UQ’s commercialisation company, UniQuest, granted an exclusive licence for its Australian distribution to Gold Coast not-for profit Watergum Community Inc.

Cane toads have marched south and west since their introduction to Queensland’s sugarcane fields from South America in 1935, even adapting to be smaller and more able to tolerate cooler southern temperatures.

Cane toads have a detrimental impact on native species such as frogs, birds and reptiles, and are even responsible for some species, such as the Spotted-tailed Quoll, being declared endangered.

The invasive pests are also problematic for rural producers, where they decimate native dung beetle populations, leading to health problems for stock and affecting dam water quality.

Stopping the further spread of cane toads is a driving motivation for the staff and volunteers at Watergum, an organisation dedicated to driving environmental change through grassroots community education.

Watergum President Wal Mayr said the lure was another tool in the fight against the invasive species.The not-for-profit coordinated several cane toad freezer collection sites across southeast Queensland, where people were encouraged to deposit humanely killed toads from their backyards.

Mr Mayr said the glands of the donated toads, which often numbered more than 250 a week in the summer months on the Gold Coast alone, were harvested to make the lures for the tadpole traps.

“We see this agreement as an opportunity to coordinate different regions across the nation to work together to have an impact on cane toad breeding cycles and reduce their numbers,” Mr Mayr said.

“We all need to do our bit in our backyards and on our properties to stop the spread of cane toads.”

The research

Professor Capon and Professor Shine discovered cane toad tadpoles were drawn to a chemical attractant released by toad eggs. The pair isolated and identified this chemical, and used it to develop tadpole attractant lures called BufoTabs.

When placed in the shallows where cane toad tadpoles congregated, a single BufoTab in a funnel trap attracted and trapped several thousand tadpoles in just a few hours.

The attractant was highly selective for toad tadpoles, and did not attract frog tadpoles. Once trapped, the toad tadpoles could be safely harvested, humanely euthanised and disposed.

The commercialisation journey

UniQuest filed the initial patent applications for the cane toad lure technology in 2012.

Professor Capon said the licensing deal with Watergum built on his Citizen Science project encouraging Queenslanders to trap cane toads, which received received a Queensland Citizen Science Grant from the Office of the Chief Scientist in 2016.

“This deal means the UQ technology behind the pheromone lures will enable the rapid, cost effective, environmentally sustainable capture and eradication of millions of cane toad tadpoles from waterways across the country,” he said.

“Importantly, the lure isn’t harmful to native wildlife and is safe to use in waterways.”

Watch the cane toad lure in action on Gardening Australia, Series 35, episode 28: Toad Busting – Gardening Australia