The environment was the winner in the first ever Ipswich Cane Toad Challenge, with more than 41,000 cane toads captured.
Ipswich City Council Environment and Sustainability Committee Chairperson Councillor Jim Madden said the challenge, organised by council and environmental group Watergum Community, was a resounding success.
“The challenge ran from 30 January to 8 February – and in that time residents removed more than 41,000 cane toads from our environment, including more than 5,000 mature cane toads and more than 36,000 tadpoles,” Cr Madden said.
The launch event at Haig Street Quarry in Brassall involved around 30 participants who caught 839 cane toads in under an hour.
The toads were taken to a Watergum drop off point for humane euthanasia.
In total, 44 groups took part in the challenge, racking up 378 volunteer hours – with children and families heavily featuring in the ranks of the cane toad army.
Council’s partnership with Watergum also included the launch of Ipswich’s first cane toad drop off point, where residents can take their toads for humane euthanasia through the fridge-freezer method.
Cr Madden said it was incredible to see so many residents respond when asked to pull on some gloves, grab some buckets and collect cane toads.
“While Ipswich’s natural environment is the ultimate winner – first place went to Steve and Dexter Royle who removed 1,020 cane toads along with 36,565 tadpoles,” Cr Madden said.
“Team Sharpes with 705 cane toads claimed second place while Team Pikes came third with 438 cane toads.”
“While this healthy bit of competition is a bit of fun and a great reason to get together as a community – it is also vital environmental protection.”
Cane toads are toxic at every life stage and prolific breeders, each producing 8,000 to 35,000 eggs per reproduction cycle. Every cane toad counts.
