When Rick Ensby spotted cane toads on his Woodford Island property, he was quick to call the local Clarence Landcare group.
The Woodford cattle grazier said a control officer spent nine days removing adults and metamorphs from the area.
“It had a massive effect on the number of cane toads for quite some time after,” he said.
But several years later the notorious invasive pests are back in “huge numbers”, despite the best efforts of Mr Nesby and his wife.
Woodford Island cattle grazier Rick Ensby has been trying to keep cane toad numbers down on his property. (Supplied: Rick Ensby)
“We both work and we work the farm as well and it’s quite time-consuming to go on an emu parade every night,” he said.
“We definitely will do that because cane toads are quite [poisonous] to native animals and birds that we’re a little bit attached to that live around the place.
“We grow hay and we don’t want [cane toads] getting wrapped up in our bales of hay and possibly transported elsewhere.”
But this time Clarence Landcare was only able to offer Mr Ensby collection buckets and handbooks as Local Land Services NSW (LLS) has discontinued control funding.
Funding redirected to studies
The NSW Cane Toad Biosecurity Zone shows areas in green where cane toads have become established. (Supplied: NSW Department of Primary Industries)
The Ensbys’ property was previously in a DPI Cane Toad Biosecurity Zone, which meant all cane toad sightings had to be reported.
But that classification, made in 2017, has now expired.
LLS team leader for invasive pests, Dean Chamberlain, said field surveys were being conducted to determine the cane toad’s range.
“We know from where the initial biosecurity line was when it was set up that they’ve moved considerable distances to the west and in reasonable distances to the south,” he said.
“We could spend money now where control has been done in the past, but if it is 10 or 15 kilometres off the front line, then it’s not really effective management of incursion.”
Fires and wet La Niña years have helped cane toads accelerate their spread in northern New South Wales. (Supplied: Matthew Greenlees)
While cane toads have been spreading west at a rate of up to 60 kilometres a year in the tropical north of Australia, their spread south has generally been much slower.
But Charles Sturt University herpetologist Matthew Greenlees said that was changing.
Herpetologist Matthew Greenlees with a captured cane toad. (Supplied: Russell Jago)
“They were introduced around the Byron Bay area in the 1960s and they’ve spread relatively slowly compared to the expansion that we’ve seen in northern Australia,” Dr Greenlees said.
“Since the bushfires and consecutive La Niña events and wet seasons, they just seem to be spreading more rapidly, particularly over the past three or four years.
“So from Angourie to Brooms Head [18km] it took them almost 30 years, but now from Brooms Head down to Diggers Camp [slightly further] we’re talking five to six years.”
Early signs this season
Clarence Landcare invasive species officer Matthew Morris said conditions had been perfect for breeding this season.
Bureau of Meteorology weather data shows Yamba received 615 millimetres of rain between May and August this year, almost double the seasonal average, and temperatures were also warmer than the median.
Cane toad eggs are laid in distinctive gelatinous strings. (Supplied: Matthew Greenlees)
“I think the toads have done a little bit better during the winter,” Mr Morris said.
“Coming out of winter we had that massive heatwave for a week and a half and that triggered a number of breeding events, which we saw very early in the season being reported to us.”
The state member for Clarence, Richie Williamson, has demanded the funding be reinstated.
Landcare North Coast board director Lyn Thomson with the state member for Clarence, Richie Williamson. (Supplied: Richie Williamson)
“This funding cut is a short-sighted decision that puts our environment at risk,” he said.
“Cane toads are more than just a nuisance — they represent an ecological disaster marching south through the Clarence electorate.
“The government appears to be asleep at the wheel while this biosecurity threat escalates.”
