Caravanners are being urged to check their vehicles for stowaways before crossing Aussie state borders after an invasive species posing a significant biosecurity risk was recently discovered off the mainland.
The Peron’s tree frog was initially mistaken for a native species by a tourist visiting a lavender farm in Port Arthur, Tasmania, on December 27. However — after a picture of it was posted online — a keen observer identified it as an intruder that had “slipped through the borders and was on the loose”, and alerted authorities.
“We think they come over on vehicles or in fruit boxes,” Clare Dean from Port Arthur Lavender, where the invasive frog was found, told Yahoo News. “But given it was sighted near the car park, I would say it’s probably likely to have come from a car or caravan.”
Yahoo News has contacted Biosecurity Tasmania for the social media photo that sparked an urgent search.
Caravans often transport ‘hitchhiking’ pests accidentally
Caravans and trucks often inadvertently spread pests across states and territories. Cane toads, one of Australia’s most infamous introduced pests, are believed to have spread south of Queensland after hitching a ride on an interstate vehicle.
The Invasive Species Council previously told Yahoo News any caravanners who are travelling interstate simply need to check their vehicles — inside and out — before crossing borders.
“Biosecurity Tasmania can’t check everything that comes into the state,” Dean explained. People coming to Tasmania by boat are asked to ensure their vehicles are clean, reducing the risk of carrying pests, and they may be questioned by biosecurity officials.
Peron’s tree frogs pose a biosecurity risk to Tasmania. Source: Australian Museum/Josie Earle
Authorities ‘dumbfounded’ by miraculous capture of frog
Debbie from Biosecurity Tasmania visited the lavender farm last Wednesday after being alerted. Dean told Yahoo News she thought there was no way the frog would be found two weeks after it was sighted, however, she was delighted to be proven wrong when her daughter, 13-year-old Estelle, came to the rescue.
“Debbie showed me the photo that was uploaded online, and I could see that the frog was sitting on a blue gum tree… there’s only a couple of places on the farm that have them,” she explained. “We all trekked off to look for this frog, and Debbie grabbed her specimen jar… I thought, ‘As if we’re going to find a frog last sighted two weeks ago!’
“We were out in the bush and all of a sudden my daughter went, ‘Is that it?’ “
Debbie managed to scoop the frog into her jar and was admittedly shocked, saying the Biosecurity Tasmania team would likely be “dumbfounded” when they learned the frog had been captured.
“We all just stood there and looked at each other for a moment,” Dean laughed.
What threat do Peron’s tree frogs pose?
The large species of frog is commonly found in southeastern states and the ACT but presents a biosecurity risk to Tasmania as only a few have ever been sighted in the state. To establish themselves there, they would need to outcompete native frogs and encroach on their habitat, which would undoubtedly be to the detriment of native species.
They also carry diseases that Tasmanian native frogs don’t, so this further perpetuates the risk for native species.
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