TPO 15

The reading states that the cane toad species were used in Australia to protect crops that are produced by farmers and after that its population increased rapidly which put small native animals in danger. The professor, however, explains that the measures to stop the spread of cane toads would not be easy and refutes three solutions.

First, based on the lecture, building a national fence can halt the spread of toads and disable them to colonized in new places. In contrast, the lecturer says that using a fence could not work probably since toads live in places with water such as streams and rivers which can carry toads and their eggs. Therefore, it is plausible the fence prevents the propagation of some toads but it does not work properly.

Second, the reading asserts that the government of Australia can use volunteers to destroy the toads since it is not hard to capture and eliminate them. Nevertheless, the professor specifies that this procedure is very dangerous since it is difficult for volunteers to distinguish between native frogs and toads. Moreover, young toads are more similar to frogs and people can destroy native frogs instead of toads.

Third, a disease-causing virus is developed by researchers that can infect a number of species such as reptiles but only harm the cane toads. On the contrary, the professor says this solution can affect the whole ecosystem and explains reptiles species from Australia will transport to America and if the animal is infected by the virus, can put other animals that are colonized in America in danger. Therefore, the use of viruses to control the population of the toads is harmful to the environment.