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Australian History

Sugarcane remains a big crop in Queensland, but the cane toads didn’t solve the insect pest problem—they just became a new one.
Sugarcane remains a big crop in Queensland, but the cane toads didn’t solve the insect pest problem—they just became a new one. Photo: Phil, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Cane toads were introduced to Australia in 1935, on purpose, in an effort to control an insect pest. Beetle larvae were destroying sugar cane crops, and the idea was that the voracious amphibians would solve the issue. However, since those first 2,400 amphibians were let loose in the agricultural fields of north Queensland, the nationwide population has ballooned to an estimated 200 million+.