Toad alert in Taiwan.
Voracious predators, they reproduce very easily and are poisonous, a particularly dangerous defense mechanism for dogs who might lick or bite them.
Native to South and Central America, this species had previously caused damage in Australia and the Philippines but had never been recorded in Taiwan.
Local farmers told conservationists they noticed the arrival of these large toads, but never reported it.
"It never occurred to them that it was an invasive species from a foreign country," Yang Yi-ju, an expert at Dong Hwa National University, told AFP. who sent a group of volunteers from the Amphibian Conservation Society to investigate.
Formerly used in sugar plantations to hunt sugarcane beetles, these toads have been introduced to plantations in Australia, the Philippines, Japan, the Caribbean as well as Florida and Hawaii where they have caused disease. damage to ecosystems.
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In Chinese culture, toads are a symbol of wealth, longevity, and luck.
“In storefronts you can find toad totems, designs and even real live toads.
It is a symbol of fortune and good luck, ”explained Lin Chun-fu, an amphibian scientist at the Endemic Species Research Institute.
Until 2016, it was legal to import toads to Taiwan as pets.
But conservationists believe that since imports were banned people have started to breed giant toads locally and some have escaped or been abandoned.
