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The Casualties of Cane Toads

The endangered northern quoll is a small marsupial threatened by the presence of cane toads. The amphibians are deadly poisonous to the mammals, and northern quolls have been driven locally extinct because of the toads.
The endangered northern quoll is a small marsupial threatened by the presence of cane toads. The amphibians are deadly poisonous to the mammals, and northern quolls have been driven locally extinct because of the toads. Photo: S J Bennet, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Sadly, the species has been responsible for the decline and local extinction of multiple native species (like the very cute and fuzzy northern quoll)—owing to the fact that almost nothing can safely eat it, while it can eat basically everything.

That latter statement is particularly true in Toadzilla’s case. “A cane toad that size will eat anything it can fit into its mouth, and that includes insects, reptiles and small mammals,” Gray noted in the statement.

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