A giant cane toad spotted on a forest trail in Queensland has surprised forestry officials with its unprecedented size.
Officials at a national park in Queensland measure the giant toad. (Video: Newsweek)
The cane toad weighs 2.7 kg and was found in Conway National Park in Queensland, Australia. Forest manager Kylee Gray spotted the toad on the side of the road while stopping for a snake to cross the trail. He and his colleagues named it Toadzilla and placed it in a bag to remove it from the wild.
This enormous specimen could break the record for the largest cane toad ever discovered. The current Guinness World Record holder weighed 2.65 kg back in 1991. However, cane toads are not a beloved species as they are considered pests. According to a statement from the Queensland Environment and Science Agency, the toad was subsequently euthanized.
This cane toad weighs up to 2.7 kg.
Cane toads are native to Central and South America and were introduced to Australia in 1935 to control the population of cane beetles that were damaging sugarcane fields in Queensland. Instead, the cane toad became an invasive species, with current numbers exceeding 200 million.
Cane toads are considered a significant threat due to their impact on native wildlife. The toads themselves are toxic, meaning that native predators and even pets can die if they bite or lick them. In some cases, populations of predators like the Eastern Brown Snake have decreased by 90% after their habitats were invaded by cane toads. Furthermore, cane toads compete for food and breeding grounds with native species. Female cane toads can lay up to 30,000 eggs in a single season.
“Large cane toads will eat anything that fits in their mouths, including insects, reptiles, and small mammals,” Gray noted. Based on the size of the captured toad, forestry officials believe it is female, as females tend to grow larger than males.
