CROCLIST: RE: Manolis: Cane Toad in Food-Chain Scenario CausesCrocExplosion on Top End

[paul Bxxxxx]

Hi Adam,

In or around the year 2004, it appeared that the cane toads had began to 
establish themselves in the McKinlay River System.

Has there been any recent statistical research to try and determine current 
population densities of the toads? And if so, has there been any visual 
evidence crocodile or goanna densities have been affected (examples with 
signs of bufo toxicity)?

Is there evidence the toads have reached into Darwin city limits?

Truly,

Paul Bodnar

>From: "Adam Britton" <abritton at crocodilian.com>
>Reply-To: croclist at lists.gatorhole.com
>To: <croclist at lists.gatorhole.com>
>Subject: RE: CROCLIST: RE: Manolis: Cane Toad in Food-Chain Scenario 
>CausesCrocExplosion on Top End
>Date: Mon, 23 Oct 2006 09:51:15 +0930
>
>I think both articles are flawed.  The study on croc nesting is all very
>well, but it's jumping the gun to suggest that it'll lead to an explosion 
>of
>crocs.  One thing we know about crocs is that if you throw a lot of
>hatchlings into an established system, you'll see a lot of mortality of
>those juveniles due to competition, predation and limited resources.
>Nothing in the freshie study has been done to look at this yet.  Of course,
>it could simply be NT News grandstanding the issues as usual.
>
>As for Brian Bush's article, if ever an issue had two extremes then Brian's
>viewpoint is far stage left.  The whole reason studies like the above are
>being done is to address much of the anecdote that surrounds this issue (of
>which the article is jam-packed!), and while there might be examples of the
>positive presence of ferals in some areas that doesn't mean we should 
>accept
>the presence of threatening processes and assume that management is
>worthless, and even negative to Australia's best interests!  This is
>patently rubbish - there is a huge amount of feral animal control that goes
>on with established ferals (not just cane toads), and the impacts of
>particular species in certain areas (eg. pigs, buffalo, cats, ants) has 
>been
>exhaustively documented (but not researched in that article, it would 
>seem).
>
>Statements about northern quolls that have been seen eating cane toads are
>simply anecdotal, and without doubt densities of this species have crashed
>in Kakadu National Park.  Should we sit back and hope that species in the
>path of toads somehow manage to adapt in time, or should we do something
>about slowing it down / stopping it?  Some goanna declines have begun to
>slowly reverse, others have not, so blanket statements about them don't
>reflect the true situation.  And I'd very much like to see the study that
>suggests freshwater crocodile population densities haven't been affected by
>toads, because that's not what we've measured.
>
>Toads might not be the end of all Life on Earth, as some people might 
>imply,
>but they're yet another threatening process which - when added to the rest 
>-
>can negatively impact native ecosystems.  These ecosystems are under enough
>stress as it is, and toads are something they can do without... not to
>mention most of the others as well.  This has nothing to do with the
>animals, and everything to do with where they are.
>
>Best wishes,
>
>Adam
>
>
>
>--
>Dr Adam Britton, abritton at crocodilian.com
>Big Gecko, http://crocodilian.com
>Tel/Fax. 61 (0)8 8988 4607
>Mobile. 61 (0)407 185182
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: croclist-bounces at lists.gatorhole.com
>[mailto:croclist-bounces at lists.gatorhole.com] On Behalf Of Steve Grenard
>Sent: Sunday, 22 October 2006 10:39 PM
>To: croclist at lists.gatorhole.com
>Subject: CROCLIST: RE: Manolis: Cane Toad in Food-Chain Scenario Causes
>CrocExplosion on Top End
>
>This item was cross posted to venomlist. In response Brian Bush shared the
>following:
>
>http://members.iinet.com.au/~bush/CT.PDF
>
>for an alternative perspective on Bufo in Oz.
>
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