Australian game rangers believe they have discovered deep in the tropical rain forest a Giant toad It may be the largest in the world.
nickname “Todzilla” —“Toad”, English toad and legendary monster Godzilla– Cane toad seen by ranger on January 12th Kylie Gray During a routine patrol Conway National ParkIn the state QueenslandIn the north of the country.
Gray and his colleagues caught the animal and brought it to the park office, where it weighed a total of 2.7 kilograms. World record Guinness The largest toad on record was 2.65 kilograms in 1991, which was caught by a pet in Sweden.
Gray said to himselfShocked” for the discovery that occurred while they were tending to a snake in the park.
“I looked down and yes, near my feet, maybe about 16 inches away from where the snake was originally, was a monstrous cane toad. We were surprised,” he said.
“Conway National Park, we thought we’d call her Connie. But Todzilla It’s a name we really like, so we stuck with it,” Gray said Reuters On Friday.
Ranger Grey’s colleague Barry NolanHe said the animal was removed and euthanized because of that “Ecological Impact”, which is the norm for all invasive species removal Australia.
“The problem with an animal this big is that it changes what it can eat,” he explained. “So your choice of prey increases, so you can Eat big meals than ordinary cane toads, their Impact on environment It is quite remarkable compared to normal sized cane toad. So that was one of the main reasons it was removed.”
“They are Environmental impact“I mean, in a national park it’s going to be very significant, with that one big cane toad,” said Nolan, who is in Toddilla. Double size than the average cane toad.
The cane toad was first introduced to Australia in 1935 to control pests. Sugar cane beetles and other pests, but rather had an adverse effect of the outbreak on the cane toad population.
Lacking natural predators, cane toads A A threat to the Australian ecosystemNolan explained.
“A female cane toad like Todzilla can be housed Up to 35,000 eggs. So its replayability is amazing. and all parts of the reproductive cycle of the cane toad Poisonous to native Australian speciesSo prevention is an important part of how you manage them,” Ranger said.
Given the rarity of the find, Todzilla’s body was donated to the Queensland Museum for further investigation.
(With information from Reuters)
