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Cane Toad (Bufo marinus)
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Many St. Lucians at one time or another has had an encounter
with Mr. Kwapo. That big ugly looking toad we’d probably say frog but actually
it’s a toad. What most of us normally do as in the adults is to run get some
salt and pelt at it hoping it will disappear and die. Younger people I suspect
would just squeal and runaway and of course we were all warned to not let it
send its milk in your eyes or else kwapo smoke your pipe.
Mr. Kwapo also called the cane toad (Bufo marinus) is native to Central and South America, but has been introduced to various islands in the Caribbean. In Saint Lucia they are typically found in agricultural
areas, natural forests, ravines, urban and suburban areas, and wetlands.
It was
introduced to Saint Lucia as a biological control for insect pests. The toad is
known to secrete a white toxic or poisonous liquid from it parotid glands when
provoked or pressure is applied, such as a predator grasping the toad in its
mouth. The toxic secretions can cause illness and death in both domestic and
wild animals that come into contact with toads, such as dogs, cats, snakes and
lizards. Cane toads are able to squirt the toxic secretion over a metre when
threatened, causing extreme pain if rubbed into the eyes. Human fatalities have
been recorded from the cane toad, following ingestion of the eggs or adults.
This species is a carrier of the amphibian fungal disease chytridiomycosis.
The cane
toad is a prolific breeder; females lay single-clump spawns with thousands of eggs in any shallow water nearby. It can reproduce anywhere from 8,000 to
35,000 eggs, which can be seen floating on the surface of water in a jelly-like
string. Cane toads breed between the months of April and September, and males
can be heard calling in late March. Approximately
0.5% survives to maturity, which takes a year, by which time the toads are
about 75mm long.
Its
reproductive success is partly because of opportunistic feeding. Cane toads
will eat almost any terrestrial animal, insects, lizards etc. but especially
those active at ground level at night. They also feed on dead and decaying meat
and even rice.
The only
things at present that may pose a threat to these toads are probably the use of
pesticides on banana plantations and other agricultural areas. Rats have been
recorded preying on cane toads, but not at a large enough scale to impact
populations.
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St. Lucia Pygmy Gecko © M. Morton
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St. Lucia
Anolis (c) M. Morton
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Article
by: Forestry Department
