Toxic toads targeted in Australia's 'Toad Day Out'

On Saturday, residents of five communities in cane toad-plagued northern Queensland state will grab their flashlights and fan out into the night to hunt down the hated animals as part of the inaugural "Toad Day Out" celebration. The toads will be brought to collection points the next morning to be weighed and killed, with some of the remains ground into fertilizer for sugarcane farmers at a local waste management plant. (via Toxic toads targeted in Australia's 'Toad Day Out').

Why ...

The same article points out, that these cane toads are no threat to human life - unless, "their poison is swallowed." There is no data on how many human being lost their lives due to these these cane toads.

The role of SPCA was interesting!

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has applauded the effort — with one caveat.

"We're only supportive of the plan if the toads are killed humanely — in other words, they're not hit with baseball bats or cricket bats and golf clubs," said spokesman Michael Beatty.

Another report observed

Hundreds of participants in five communities across northern Queensland snacked on sausages, sipped cold drinks and picked up prizes as the portly pests were weighed, measured and killed in the state's inaugural "Toad Day Out" celebration.

Environment, wildlife and the world ...

In America, the bison in the wild has been wiped out. The South American caiman was nearly wiped out. Cougar, or otherwise called the Jaguar, is a rarity. There are no other big cats in the Americas. By the time of Julius Caesar, lions, tigers and elephants had become extinct in Rome, Greece, France.

The two popular theories trotted out by Western theoreticians is that all these were extinction-prone species or loss of habitat to human beings. India disproves both these theories. Especially, once you take Indian population density into account. India becomes a unique country with in terms of wildlife conservation.

Rest of the world

One Western ‘artist’, Damien Hirst, makes art from killing butterflies, cows - and other such animals. What kind of art is this?

Two Czech scientists were arrested in Darjeeling recently - accused by the Indian authorities, of smuggling butterflies. The Czechs claim they were scientists. Indian authorities claim that the hundreds of samples that they were collecting are part of an illegal trade ring.

The role of traditional Chinese Medicine in extinction of wildlife is well known. The Chinese think that civet cats have to be eaten (till they are available), tigers flesh and bones can cure them of impotency (and what will they do after tigers are extinct?). Of course, Rhino horn and the bile juice of wild bears are essential! What will the Chinese do after these animals become extinct in the next few decades? Japanese resistance to a ban on whaling is symptomatic of a similar insensitivity to other forms of life.

Wildlife in India

India is the only place in the world which can still boast of the Big 5 - Elephants, Rhino, Bison Tiger and Leopard - except Africa! And India has tigers, which Africa does not have.

India has the largest wild tiger population in the world. And it is not an accident. In 1973, a poor and hungry India, went ahead and launched Project Tiger. In 2004, there were 6000 tigers left in the world - and 3000 were in India. Poaching, driven by Chinese demand for tiger parts, used in Chinese medicine, is reducing tiger population India.

Elephants once roamed across China, the Mediterranean, the whole of West Asia and Africa. By 850 BC, West Asian elephants were extinct. By 300 BC, elephants in China had become rare. Again, outside, Africa, India has the largest Rhino population in the world. The biggest threat to rhinos in India is the use of rhino horn in Chinese concoctions to cure impotence and increase libido. Outside Africa, India has the largest leopard population of 14,000. The world population of leopards is estimated at 100,000. India has 80% of the Asian leopard population.

Conservation in India

In October 1998, nearly eight Indian film stars were accused of poaching. This entire prosecution incident was initiated by the Bishnoi community. The Bishnois have a long tradition of conservation activity. The Bishnois were at the forefront similarly in the prosecution of Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, accused of poaching.

More than 50% of grain production in the US is fed to animals, which are in turn slaughtered and eaten. This grain production comes at an effectively, after significant usage of fertilisers, pesticides, fuel, industrial processing, irrigation, etc. The carbon overload would decrease if meat consumption in the US (and similar cultures) were to reduce - like in India.