The ABC has raised eyebrows and copped criticism over a bizarre moment in an upcoming TV series set to air in the new year, which suggests that one potential method to manage invasive species in Australia is by consuming them—including the notoriously toxic cane toad.
The series, Eat The Invaders, is hosted by former ABC News Breakfast host Tony Armstrong and purportedly explores a “tasty solution” to the country’s cane toad crisis as well as other invasive species. In a trailer, Armstrong says “by reimagining” the problem, we might just able to “help save Australia, one forkful at a time”.
The series is understood to showcase six different meals made up primarily of Australia’s various invasive and introduced species, including carp, deer and rabbit. However Invasive Species Council’s Principal Policy Analyst Dr Carol Booth said she spoke to the show during production and warned that while the idea appeared well-intended, it’s not practical in actuality.
Cane toads are highly invasive and toxic. They run amok in plague proportions in Australia. Source: ABC
ABC series risks making invasive pests ‘desirable’, expert warns
Dr Booth said that often, when “showcasing these animals as food” we risk making their presence more desirable. “Promoting invasive species as a resource, whether for profit or pleasure, often entrenches problems,” she wrote this week in the Sydney Morning Herald.
“The creation of a market for feral goats has led to more goats degrading outback Australia, not fewer. For feral camels, years of talk about sending the meat overseas delayed plans to cull them, resulting in larger numbers.”
Booth claimed she spoke with the show’s production team, including the director Matthew Bate over her concerns regarding the series. “The Invasive Species Council raised [this] with the makers of the show back when it was just a concept. Unfortunately, our biology-based message was not so delicious,” she said.
“From our discussions with the series director and scriptwriter … we think it possible the series will include warnings against the translocation of carp and other pests, but past evidence strongly suggests that warnings are often ignored.”
The show presents six meals made out of invasive species including deer, cane toads, carp and rabbit. Source: ABC
And while she criticised this particular idea, Booth has long worked on the frontlines to help the country combat its increasingly dire battle with introduced species.
Australia is home to over 6,000 invasive threats, including plants, animals, and microorganisms, which pose significant problems in the country’s unique ecosystems. Speaking to Yahoo News Australia just last week, Booth warned of a major weed taking over yards in Queensland in particular.
Mexican bean trees “lurk in gardens ready to invade”, she explained, and any sightings “must be reported” to authorities. Booth also spoke to Yahoo in November, warning of the Calomba daisy — an “unpalatable annual herb that impacts pastures and crops” which can grow up to one metre tall.
Aussie state overrun with cane toads, and they’re on the move
When it comes to cane toads, their invasion remains a major threat. Queensland in particular is overrun with the toxic amphibian, with fears the nasty pest is making its way further down south.
In February, cane toad sightings in southern Sydney reignited alarm over their eventual mass migration south. It’s not known how the cane toads appeared in Sydney, however, it’s not an isolated incident. Professor Rick Shine, a cane toad expert, told Yahoo “dozens turn up in Sydney every year”. Meanwhile, in May last year, another was found in Kenthurst in the Hills district in Sydney’s north.
In the Sutherland Shire, three were found in Caringbah in 2021. Prior to that, the last reported sighting were in 2014.
Why are cane toads so harmful in Australia?
Cane toads were introduced to Australia in 1935 to control agricultural pests but have since become one of the country’s most harmful invasive species.
Their population has exploded to over 200 million, spreading across Queensland, New South Wales, Northern Territory, and Western Australia. They’re particularly harmful because they secrete a potent toxin from their glands, which is lethal to most native predators, including quolls, goannas, and snakes.
This has caused significant declines in these populations and disrupted ecosystems. Cane toads also compete with native species for resources and prey on insects and small animals, further unbalancing local biodiversity.
There’s estimated to be some 200 million cane toads in Australia, with members of the public also assisting in efforts to eradicate them. Source: Facebook/Maclean Noticeboard
Efforts to control their numbers have faced challenges due to their rapid reproduction — each female can lay up to 30,000 eggs at a time — and their ability to adapt to various environments. Their presence exemplifies the unintended consequences of introducing non-native species into fragile ecosystems.
Booth said to suggest, as the show’s promo does, that you “could and should eat some species into eradication, would be laughable” if it wasn’t “so dangerously wrong”.
“Governments have already spent far too much of our taxes on futile programs such as bounties for foxes and pigs, and community whacking of cane toads. Examples of successful ‘eat the problem’ programs are rare,” she said.
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