Toxic Cane Toads Invade Taiwan

Environmentalists in Taiwan are racing to control an invasion of toxic cane toads that threaten to damage Taiwan’s ecosystem.

The non-native species have flooded Taiwan and are threatening the native species and ecosystem. Cane toads are one of the most dangerous toads. They have a milky white poison that is stored behind their eyes, making them toxic to most species and even humans.

The Taiwan Amphibian Conservation Society quickly jumped into action after seeing that a local farm was dealing with a cane toad infestation. They ended up finding 200 cane toads in the area around the farm, showing just how dire the infestation was.

Cane toads can reproduce very quickly and have no natural predators in Taiwan, leaving them to reproduce in a never-ending cycle.

It is believed that the toxic cane toad infestation started as a result of the black market pet trade as cane toads are a popular pet in Taiwan. Selling cane toads on the back market is illegal, and environmentalists suspect that the toads were abandoned by a breeder and left to quickly reproduce.

Researchers hope that they have stifled the invasion, but they will not be able to know for sure until spring when they can start to reproduce again.

This is just one side effect of the black market pet trade as it introduces non-native species to places that do not have any natural predators, putting the entire ecosystem at risk of being unbalanced.

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