With no records of how they got there, the Asian toads (Duttaphrynus melanosticus) appeared on the island between 2007 and 2010. The toads are threatening Madagascar’s unique wildlife area which has hundreds of endemic frog species and poisonous to humans.
According to the BBC, a new report has been released that is calling for action to prevent an “environmental catastrophe” stating that the priority is to control the toads’ population while eradicating those that remain.
“It could disrupt food chains and cause native predators, prey, and competitors to decline or even go extinct,” says report co-author Christian Randrianantoandro of Madagasikara Voakajy, a Malagasy biodiversity organisation
Currently the toads have not spread to the whole of Madagascar but occupy less than a fifth of the country. The conservationists say that the eradication should start now before the toads got into rivers and canals quickly spreading.
The toads can be eradicated in different ways, among which collecting them by hand is being used at the moment. Since they are not easy to spot, another way could be spraying a mildly acidic solution (kills the toads in 24 hours) in the areas they live. The toads can also be caught using tadpole traps and trained sniffer dogs.
With a female toad able to produce over 40,000 eggs in year the eradication needs to be on a larger scale and faster.
No comments:
Post a Comment