Toadzilla discovered in Australia could be the world’s largest. In the wild northern rainforests of Australia, park rangers stumble upon. A predator so large they feel they have no choice but to dub it the Toadzilla.
The giant cane toad was discovered on January 12. By rangers conducting track work in Conway National Park, Queensland.
A snake across the track next to the Conway circuit forced the team to stop their car. Ranger Kylie Gray recounted, prompting her to get out, look down and gasp when she saw the frog.
“I reached down and grabbed the cane toad. And couldn’t believe how big and heavy it was.” He said in a statement from the Queensland Department of Environment and Science.
“it’s a female because of the size, and female cane toads are larger than males,” Gray added.
Although not this big, usually.
According to Guinness World Records, the current record for the world’s largest toad is 2.65 kilograms (5.8 lb). Measuring 38 centimeters (1.3 ft) from snout to vent. The record was set in March 1991 by a cane toad owned by a Swedish man.
“When we got back to the base, it weighed 2.7 kilograms, which might be a new record,” Gray said of the discovered toadzilla.
The team considered calling the large amphibian Cony after Conway National Park. He said in an interview with state broadcaster ABC on Friday. But settled on naming the fictional monster.
“We called it Toadzilla and put it in a container so we could remove it from the wild,” Gray said in the statement.
Unlike its namesake, the toadzilla was seen as a serious threat to its surroundings.
“A cane toad will eat anything it can fit in its mouth. And that includes insects, reptiles and small mammals,” Gray said.
While pigeons and rats are considered stubborn pests in many countries. Cane toads take the crown as one of Australia’s most invasive pests.
With this in mind, the giant toad was “euthanized”. According to a statement from the Department of Environment. And Science due to the risk of environmental damage.
The species was introduced to the state of Queensland in 1935 to control the cane weevil, a pest of sugarcane.
The amphibian – often brown and covered in large warts – can grow up to 26 centimeters (10.2 inches). And weigh up to 2.5 kilograms (5.5 pounds), although the department says cane toads of this size are rare.
Such cane toads are considered a threat to biodiversity. They can colonize habitats , as female cane toads can produce up to 30,000 eggs in a season, it says.
They can be “toxic to wildlife,” according to the statement.
According to the New South Wales Environment and Heritage Group. Which oversees the Australian state of New South Wales. Unless there are control methods or biological control. Agents to target cane toads without harming native species. They must be collected and removed by hand. Toads have spread.
The cane toad has been linked to the decline and extinction of several of its predators. Including the northern koal — also known as the northern Australian native cat. Which is now endangered in northern Australia, according to the group.
But Toadzilla’s legacy will live on. Authorities said its body was donated to a Queensland museum for research.
Correction (January 20, 2023, 8:15 a.m. ET). An earlier version of this article and a title stated when Toadzilla was discovered. It was January 12th, not January 19th. The article also misspelled part of the name of a local species. It’s North Cole, not Koal.
