Giant cane toad found

March 27, 2007 12:00
Article from: The Daily Telegraph (Sydney Australia)

A CANE toad the size of a small dog has been caught by a pest eradication group in the Northern Territory of Australia.

FrogWatch, a group culling the introduced menace across the Northern Territory, has found a toad measuring 20cm in length and weighing 860gm.

Volunteers discovered the whopping hopper and 38 smaller toads at Lee Point in the city's northern surburbs.

FrogWatch's Graeme Sawyer said the monster toad was the size of a small dog.

"The only bigger cane toad I've seen is in a specimen bottle in a museum in Brisbane," he said.

"I reckon I've probably seen 50,000 to 60,000 cane toads in the last 12 months and there is nothing even remotely close to this thing."

Mr Sawyer said he was surprised by the toad's sex.

"The biggest toads are usually females, but this one is a rampant male," he said.

"He is huge; I would hate to meet his big sister.

"The highly publicised big female caught in the city recently was little over
15 centimetres (6inches), this monster is another five centimetres (2inches)
longer and one-third heavier."

A number of toad busts have been organised by FrogWatch to minimise the pest's
spread during the wet season.

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