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| Toads at Taren Point: catch them while we can, is a documentary filmed by A Question of Balance that followed the Cane Toad eradication program at Taren Point through one full year of its operation. The film presents key initiatives of the Cane Toad Working Party including footage from several of the Cane Toad musters run by Sutherland Shire Council at Taren Point.
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| Toads have been in Australia for over 80 years and are turning up in new areas all the time. Recently, a population of cane toads was discovered in Sydney, at Taren Point in Sydney’s south (click here). This required intervention which came in the form of the local community, Sutherland Shire Council, the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and The Frog and Tadpole Study Group of NSW all collaborating.
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| | A Cane Toad Working Group was formed (click here). Coordinated by Dr Ann Goeth, this group enlisted a wide range of experts including Professor Rick Shine and Dr Matt Greenlees from the Shine Lab at the University of Sydney, Craig Shephard and Jason Bishop from National Parks and Wildlife Service and Sutherland Shire Council personnel such as Pest Species Officer Stewart Harris.
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| Also involved were Dr Arthur White from the Frog and Tadpole Study Group of NSW, Karen Kennedy and Nerida Gill from the Sydney Metro Catchment Management Authority, and Frank Lemckert from Industry & Investment NSW. A comprehensive action plan was drawn up to deal with the problem, along with additional funding from the Environmental Trust and the SMCMA.
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| Community involvement was an important aspect of the action plan and grant funding made it possible to organise cane toad musters (click here) and to employ contractors to assist Stewart Harris in surveying the area to determine the extent of the toads’ range, potential breeding sites and preferred habitats. Other strategies developed included the use of toad detection dogs (click here) and cane toad traps.
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| | Toads have been tracked using radio tracking devices which showed that they were using the drainage system as protected, moist environments. Stuart Harris, the Pest Species Officer with Sutherland Shire Council, conducted the cane toad musters with volunteers from the local community, the aim being to catch and remove the toads in a way that was both safe to the catchers and humane for the toads.
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| Of all the initiatives and strategies used, it seems that the most important has been people power. People who are willing to be out there, looking for toads and catching them by hand. It is the considerable efforts and support of rangers, contractors, Sutherland Council employees, and especially Stewart Harris and the wider community support that have been vital in the program.
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| There have been five cane toad musters that have involved some 200 people. Stewart Harris reports around 130 property agreements have been signed, providing access for inspectors. Some 500 cane toads have been removed from the Taren Point area and the efforts will continue this summer, especially now that tracking has better identified habitats and foraging grounds.
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| | There is great optimism about eradicating the Cane Toads but the area is home to a working industrial site with many transport movements. This means that the community will need to be ever vigilent so that a new population cannot be introduced and remain undetected. All images are from Toads at Taren Point: catch them while we can copyright AQOB 2011. Summary text by Victor Barry, November 2011.
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