10 Key Insights About Cane Toads

Toadzilla, possibly the largest cane toad ever recorded, weighed nearly six pounds when discovered in Conway National Park, Queensland, Australia, in January 2023. Ranger Kylee Gray expressed astonishment, stating, 'I reached down and grabbed the cane toad and couldn’t believe its size and weight.' The Queensland government speculated that this massive amphibian might establish a new record.

Native to Central and South America, cane toads (Rhinella marina) have become a highly invasive species in regions like Australia, Fiji, Hawaii, and Florida. These toxic amphibians act like ecological disruptors, posing significant threats to local wildlife. Here are the crucial details.

1. Historically, cane toad venom was utilized to poison arrowheads.

“The Choco Indians of western Colombia once extracted toad venom by placing them in bamboo tubes over a fire,” Christopher Lever notes in The Cane Toad: The History and Ecology of a Successful Colonist. The collected poison was then applied to arrowheads and blowgun darts as a lethal coating.

2. They hold the title of the world’s largest true toads.

Typically, wild cane toads grow to about 4 to 6 inches in length and weigh around three pounds. However, some individuals have been much larger. Prior to Toadzilla, the largest recorded specimen weighed over five pounds. These toads exhibit sexual dimorphism, with females generally being larger. Males, on the other hand, have rougher skin and produce a variety of calls.

3. Approximately 1.5 billion cane toads inhabit Australia.

In 1900, Australian sugar cane farmers sought government assistance to combat beetle and insect infestations devastating their crops. The Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations (BSES) tested numerous pesticides without success. In 1935, entomologist Reginald Mungomery was dispatched to Hawaii to collect cane toads, which had been introduced there to protect sugar crops from similar pests. The BSES initiated a breeding program with the imported toads and released 102 cane toads in northern Queensland later that year. Their population exploded, now estimated at around 1.5 billion.

4. Female cane toads are capable of laying between 8,000 and 30,000 eggs in a single clutch.

Within days of being laid, cane toad eggs hatch into tadpoles, a stage lasting four to eight weeks. These tadpoles exhibit cannibalistic behavior, consuming eggs and tadpoles of other cane toads, though they avoid eating their own siblings. While they prey on each other, predators face danger: both cane toad eggs and tadpoles are toxic.

5. Some individuals attempt to get high by licking cane toads, often with disastrous consequences.

When cane toads feel threatened, they release a toxic mix of chemicals, including 5-methoxy-N, N-dimethyltryptamine. Those who ingest this substance, typically by licking the toads, experience intense hallucinations and a powerful bodily reaction. However, the side effects can include muscle weakness, severe vomiting, seizures, and even fatal heart failure. Avoid licking these toads at all costs!

6. Cane toads are known to consume dog food.

These toads are opportunistic feeders, eating almost anything that fits into their mouths, such as beetles, bees, ants, crickets, frogs, snakes, aquatic snails, and even small pets like dogs and cats. In neighborhoods, they are frequently spotted raiding dog food bowls and feasting on the contents.

7. King Charles III was gifted a cane toad-themed present for his wedding.

The hides of cane toads can be transformed into a textured, non-toxic leather. As a wedding gift to the then-Prince Charles and Diana Spencer in 1981, the Australian Defense Department presented the royal couple with an elegant book bound in the skins of four cane toads.

8. Invasive cane toads are finding their way into adventurous culinary dishes.

While live cane toads should never be consumed due to their toxicity, properly prepared cane toads can be eaten. Recently, Australian chefs have started using cane toad legs in their dishes, sautéing, stir-frying, or adding them to salads. “It’s a healthy food source,” Philip Hayward, a professor at Southern Cross University, told ABC. “We can reduce their population while creating a sustainable and economically beneficial product.”

9. A cane toad statue stands in Sarina, Australia.

Locally known as “Buffy,” the statue honors the town’s sugar cane farmers. Originally a papier-mâché decoration on a float for the 1983 Apex Sugar Festival, it was later cast in fiberglass and placed on Broad Street in Sarina’s town center.

10. Cane toad poison may hold potential medical benefits.

Since 2010, researchers at the University of Queensland have been studying the potential medical uses of cane toad toxin. Their experiments reveal that the toxin can selectively destroy cancer cells without harming healthy ones.

“We could refine the [toxin] into medicine, ideally in tablet form because it has an extremely unpleasant taste,” Dr. Harenda Parekh, a senior lecturer at the school of pharmacy, told The Guardian in 2016. This product could resemble chan su, a traditional Chinese medicine derived from the poison of an Asian toad, used to treat skin conditions, heart failure, and sore throats. Australian cane toad poison might provide an alternative source, potentially protecting native amphibians. “The cane toad is an enduring pest, and we’re losing the battle against it,” Parekh said, “but we could transform them into a profitable export.”