When we first came up with the idea of building a frog pond as our innovative solution to the cane toad problem, we had quite different ideas in mind as to what the purpose of the pond was to be. Through the course of our research investigations, our original intentions have since changed. Below is a clarification of the subsequent changes to our original proposal, and how our research has led us to change our intentions ase to how we use our frog pond.
Originally, our intention was to design and build our frog pond, obtain some tadpole eggs from a frog club in our native area, and start breeding native frog species in the pond, thereby increasing the population in the local area. Members of the community, having followed our suggestions and built frog ponds in their own backyards, would then be able to come to the school pond and collect tadpoles to then take back to their frog pond and breed their own frogs, thereby encouraging more into the environment. But this proposal did not really help stem the cane toad population in our local area, and might also upset the ecosystem by introducing large numbers of frogs into the area that were not previously there.
Following our investigations, we now instead propose that our building of a frog pond will encourage local native animals to the area that can breed of their own accord. This includes cane toads, who are attracted to the same sorts of environments as frogs.
Through the regular maintenance and observation of the pond and surrounding area, we will then be able to monitor for cane toads and their eggs, which we can then take the necessary steps to remove and destroy (the eggs, not the toads!). We feel that this "exclusion" method is the most logistical, sustainable and ethical solution to the cane toad problem in our local area.
Please feel free to contact us if you would like more information.
(image taken from http://mybackyard.info/backyardblog/?p=99)
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