METRO REPORTER - 26th April, 2010
Scientists in Australia are tackling an invasion of poisonous cane toads with a sausage designed to protect vulnerable predators from the creatures.
They've added a nausea-inducing drug to cane toad meat and created sausages from it to use as bait to help train animals not to eat the toads.
Sydney University's Jonathan Webb, leader of the research team that came up with the sausage solution, explained that the tainted meat was inspired by the same association humans make, after they've had food poisoning, between a particular food's taste or smell and the feeling of being ill.
Cane toads, which have large toxin glands in their shoulders, have been blamed for a decline in Australia's quoll population.
According to experts, the quoll - a bushy-tailed marsupial around the size of a cat - sees the toads as large frogs and can't otherwise be prevented from eating them.
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/823380-australias-cane-toad-invasion-gets-sausage-solution
Monday, 26 April 2010
Australia's cane toad invasion gets sausage 'solution'
Labels:
Amphibians,
Australia,
ecology,
invasive species,
quoll,
threat to wildlife,
toads,
toxic
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