For Australia, the grim story began in the sugar cane plantations of Puerto Rico, which had imported giant toads from South America to eat the … The 'whitegrub' larvae of these beetles eat the roots of sugar cane and kill or stunt the plants. The toads can breed at any time of year but seem to prefer the weather conditions that occur with the onset of the wet season. Cane toads are toxic at all stages of their life cycle, as eggs, tadpoles, toadlets and adults, and their ingestion can kill native predators. Cane Toads were introduced to Australia to eat French's Cane Beetle and the Greyback Cane Beetle. Cane toads have been linked to the decline and extinction of several native predator species in the Northern Territory and Queensland, including the northern quoll. CaneToadsInOz.Com will take you behind the scenes with award-winning Australian scientist Professor Rick Shine and members of his research group from the University of Sydney, TEAM BUFO, to see the work they are undertaking to better understand this animal and its impact. It has no known predators, and has had a serious impact on the ecosystems of northern Australia. The species is now widespread throughout northeast NSW and are nearing the border in north west NSW. Cane toads are an invasive species in Australia. Australia has no predators or diseases that control cane toad numbers (QLD Environmental Protection Agency). Released in Queensland to help the cane industry deal with insect attacks on sugar cane roots, it has since spread all the way across to northern Western Australia. Cane toads are pests in Australia — to humans, pythons and mangos, evidently — and known to damage ecosystems. Introduction: Cane toads were intentionally introduced in Australia in 1935 to help combat cane beetles that were wreaking havoc on sugar cane crops. The cane toad is one of Australia’s best-known introduced pests. They were introduced to control the cane beetle in 1935, but the outcome has been disastrous. The Australian Bureau of Sugar Experimental Stations imported about 100 toads from Hawaii to the Meringa Experimental Station near Cairns. About 3,000 cane toads were released in the sugarcane plantations of north Queensland in 1935. The cane toad, introduced in 1935, is spreading to more parts of Australia. Cane toads, Bufo marinus (Rhinella marina), are tough, heavily built amphibians that have developed a bad reputation in Australia. While cane toads aren’t bad (they’re just built that way), they are an invasive species that have wreaked havoc on Australia’s delicate ecosystems and biodiversity.