Reed toads in Australia and cat food seem to be unrelated to one another. Indeed, does ordinary cat food have anything to do with breeding deadly amphibians that threaten biological diversity on the whole continent?
However, this is so. In Australia, reed toads. Cat food can be a way out.
Fighting a common problem
An interesting and unusual country continent is suffering from a very original trouble. One of the biggest problems in Australia is reed toads. Cat food can solve it. Australian scientists came to the conclusion that it is necessary to reduce the population of amphibians that have a negative effect on the fauna of the entire continent, and the found method, which seems very nontrivial, actually activates the usual natural mechanism. Not a single living creature, even extremely poisonous, is completely safe - he always has an enemy. In this case, this is by no means cat food.
Reed toads in Australia are a serious threat to predatory animals, in particular, representatives of rare endangered species. These amphibians secrete a deadly toxin, which, once in the body of a predator who decided to eat a toad, destroys it. Thus, the Jamaican boas, which, unfortunately, over a century and a half are not used to ignoring poisonous victims, and many other representatives of the Caribbean fauna, are already threatened with extinction.
The Curse of Australia
As for Australia, the poisonous toads brought there in the first half of the 20th century have long threatened to destroy many representatives of the animal world of this continent. But in recent years, the situation has become critical, and scientists have sounded the alarm.
In Australia, reed amphibians breed freely and quickly. Growing up enough to independently enter the big world, the young growth gets ashore from the reservoir, where an adult female laid eggs. After some time, small toads grow in quite large amphibians, but at the initial stages their size is small: about one centimeter in length. Frogs take time to gain strength.
However, they can very easily be prevented by a colony of meat ants, which appeared on the shore at this time.
Meat Ants - Enemies of Toads
Meat ants have powerful jaws, a relatively large body and a rather aggressive character.
Toad venom does no harm to them, and small frogs do not have the opportunity to protect themselves from voracious insects, which, acting as a group, are able to cope even with large animals. The young are completely powerless before the invasion of hungry ants.
Researchers at the University of Sindea came to this conclusion when they discovered that a can of cat food could draw natural amphibian enemies into the pond. In the fight against the population of poisonous cane toads in Australia, ants were excellent helpers. If you leave small toads not far from the reservoir from which small toads are taken into the world (and their population is large - one adult toad lays about thirty thousand eggs), at least a few spoonfuls of cat food, carnivorous insects flood the coast in a few hours in search of food. And they find her.
Successful Theory Test
In 2008, a simple experiment was conducted. With the help of a small amount of cat food, which attracted ants, it was possible to destroy almost all the young growth (tens of thousands were counted) in no more than several minutes.
Some of the cubs managed to escape, but the wounds they received were so serious that 80% of the survivors died from the damage after some time. The results are really impressive. It's hard to believe, but in Australia, reed toads (cat food helps this) are already dying out.
Other methods of struggle
As noted above, researchers have been looking for ways to deal with poisonous amphibians for decades. For example, environmentalists tested the option of killing toads and their subsequent freezing. This was somewhat convenient, since then useful and already non-toxic fertilizers were made from amphibians, however, this did not solve the problem: the toads multiplied at the same speed, and the predators who swallowed the poisonous frog were still dying.
How to deal with the problem?
To date, it has been decided that cat food will be used in Australia to fight poisonous toads. This will negatively affect the population of this amphibian species, but it will have a beneficial effect on the Australian fauna as a whole.
The Royal Australian Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has appealed the decision, finding it extremely inhumane to amphibians. According to the members of this society, it is necessary to find a way in which toads will die painlessly. However, at the moment it is hardly possible.
One can only hope that the problem with amphibians will not develop into a problem with meat ants. After all, it is known that in Australia, cane toads (cat food is now the only way to escape from them) were originally used to cope with pest beetles that destroy sugar cane.