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I’ve written before about cane toads which are spreading across northern Australia after being introduced in 1935 to prey on beetles that were infesting sugar-cane crops. Since their introduction into Queensland, they have migrated over 2,000 kilometres westward. The toads will soon make their way down the Western Australian coast. Because of a poisonous sac, anything that eats them dies, and it is believed that shortly another nine native animals will join the threatened species list through being decimated by eating toads. The toads also wipe out other frog species. The Western Australian government has now allocated funds to create a ‘waterless barrier’ between the Indian Ocean and the Great Sandy Desert. A 40 by 400 kilometre strip will be made waterless by making cattle watering points unavailable to toads. Hopefully this will halt the westward movement. Traditional land-owners, pastoralists and professionals are combining to create the barrier. Cane toads breed year-round with females laying between 8,000 and 30,000 eggs at a time. Let's hope this barrier gets implemented - and quickly. Photo from Wikimedia Commons: Taken by Geoff Gallice from Gainesville, FL, USA