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Madagascar

Risk review is under way for invasive toad

Nature volume 512, page 253 (2014)Cite this article

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Sven Mecke and colleagues call for prior assessment of ecological risks that might be associated with eradication measures against the invasive Asian common toad Duttaphrynus melanostictus (Nature 511, 534; 2014). The Amphibian Specialist Group in Madagascar — part of the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Species Survival Commission network — is already undertaking such an evaluation, along with local and international experts.

We disagree that the effects of an invasive species need to be fully understood before starting control operations. Experience with other invaders shows that this could take decades, and swift action is crucial to stop an invasion from becoming widespread. We already know that D. melanostictus is invasive elsewhere in the tropics and is a biosecurity hazard in Australia.

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  1. Franco Andreone: *On behalf of 11 correspondents (see Supplementary information).

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  1. Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali, Turin, Italy

    Franco Andreone

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  1. Franco Andreone
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Correspondence to Franco Andreone.

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Andreone, F. Risk review is under way for invasive toad. Nature 512, 253 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/512253c

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  1. Jean SmilingCoyote

    I agree with this writer about the urgent need to stop this toad. In the USA, we'd say "shoot first, ask questions later." To minimize ecological risks, we'd say use steel, not lead, ammunition. If I slap dead a mosquito who's just landed on my arm, I'm not interested in whether she's carrying a disease, or the ecological effects of depriving some bird of a bit of food.

  2. Michael Cunningham

    It's good to hear that an assessment is under way but I agree with these authors &#8211 the potential damage from Duttaphrynus melanostictus, and it's pathogens to the Malagasy fauna far outweighs the likely damage from any attempts to eradicate this voracious generalist species. Attempts to control Cane Toads in Australia have been enormously expensive and ineffective, yet may have worked if any were implemented in the early years after introduction.

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