‘Sneaky’ cane toad spotted in Broome a year ahead of pest’s forecast march across Western Australia

Scientists are investigating after a Broome local spotted a cane toad outside a local resort, prompting fears a wave of the invasive pests could arrive in the region sooner than expected.

The amphibians have been slowly creeping towards the tourist town, but the cane toad “frontline” is officially just south of Derby, about 200 kilometres to the north-east, and is not forecast to reach Broome until 2025.

Local restaurant manager Karl McPhail spotted the cane toad outside the resort in the suburb of Cable Beach on New Year’s Eve. 

“We wanted to believe that it wasn’t but all the images … it was definitely a cane toad,” Mr McPhail said. 

“We posted it online on Facebook and sure enough it was confirmed by the Department [of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions].”

The toad escaped into nearby bushland.

Mr McPhail said he was concerned to see the invasive species reach the streets of Broome. 

“It’s a tourist town and there’s a lot of caravan parks, hotels and resorts in the area … obviously there’s a lot of travellers come in during the season, which can increase the speed of the cane-toad influx,” he said. 

“I’ve got pets, I’ve got a dog and it’s concerning for the wildlife for sure.”

Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions project officer Sara McAllister said the cane toad was the third found in Broome in the last three months.

She said the department would set traps to capture the animals.

“It’ll probably be around sort of freshwater or wet areas, so irrigated areas and hopefully we can just catch it by hand,” Ms McAllister said. 

“If unsuccessful with doing that, we’ll pop out a couple of cane toad traps, which have a light to attract [the animals] and it also has a cane toad call in there.” 

Toad may have hitchhiked in

With an increase in travellers between the Gibb River Road and Broome, Ms McAllister said she expected cane toad numbers to increase through hitchhiking on vehicles. 

“Toads are really sneaky and they can hide in small sort of crevices in cars, boats, trailers and camping gear — so most likely, that’s what’s happened,” she said. 

While one hitchhiking toad may not pose a significant threat to Broome, Ms McAllister said there was a risk that several toads could breed and cause a “satellite population” ahead of the frontline. 

“We try and avoid that because we want to give the native wildlife as much time without toads as possible and it also allows us time to be able to do some conditioning of the native animals before toads arrive,” she said. 

Ms McAllister said while the sighting was definitely a concern, the frontline was still years away.

“[The toads] have spread throughout the Kimberley and they’re currently located just south of Derby,” she said. 

“We are expecting toads to arrive in Broome at the end of the next wet season, so the 2025-26 wet season … any toad that’s arriving at the moment is a couple of years ahead of what we call the frontline.”

Ms McAllister said if members of the public found and identified a cane toad, it should be captured and humanely euthanised.

The cane toad has three distinguishing features, including a bony ‘M’ shaped ridge on the nose, dry warty skin and large poison glands.

Anyone can send a clear photo of a suspected can toad to 0400 693 807 for identification and further advice. 

Mr McPhail said it was important for Kimberley locals to understand how to identify a cane toad and report it to authorities.

“Speaking from my experience, I think people need to be more educated … if I was more educated … I would have captured it.”