Cane toads hitch ride to Perth
Four cane toads have been found on a truck at a Perth freight depot, sparking fresh calls for checks to prevent their spread to the city.
Department of Parks and Wildlife officers said one of the toxic toads was dead by the time they were spotted on Friday on the truck carrying sandalwood from Kununurra.
Another one, a female capable of laying thousands of eggs, died at the weekend.
Senior wildlife officer Rick Dawson said freight company Toll Express did the right thing by alerting authorities.
"It is a serious concern that three live toads were discovered including, for the first time, a healthy male and two females, because of the risks of them escaping and breeding," he said.
"There is the potential, in the right conditions, for one female laying up to 30,000 eggs to start a satellite population in the Perth metropolitan area."
Primary producers in cane toad-infested areas need to take measures to keep the creatures out of vehicles, Mr Dawson said.
"One way to do this is to raise their pre-transport handling processes off the ground, to reduce the risk of toad stowaways," he said.
People are also being reminded to check their cars, caravans, luggage and camping gear when leaving known cane toad-breeding areas in some northern parts of WA, including the east Kimberley.
