Rio Tinto joins effort to stop cane toad spread in Australia
The mining company and Curtin University will spend A$28m to build a containment zone to protect the Pilbara ecosystem.
Rio Tinto is investing millions of dollars to prevent poisonous cane toads from reaching the Pilbara region of western Australia, according to BBC News. The mining company, alongside Curtin University in Perth and other partners, will spend A$28m to create a toad containment zone to stop the pest from travelling south.
The five-year project, which is set to begin in 2027, aims to cut off the toad's water supply. A barrier will be built across 7,500 sq km of land between the Indian Ocean and the Great Sandy Desert to prevent the toads from accessing dams, storage tanks, or other ground-level water sources.
The cane toad was introduced to Australia in 1935 to control beetles in the sugar cane industry. The Australian government says the toads have been moving west across the northern landscape at a rate of 40 km to 60 km a year, and they have no natural predators or diseases to control them.
Professor Ben Phillips of Curtin University said the toads would reach the Pilbara within two decades if no action is taken. He described the containment zone as a chance to stop an invasive species and protect the region's wildlife.
The toads produce toxins lethal to native animals, including the ghost bat, goanna lizard, and the northern quoll. Roberta Hunter, a ranger in the Nyangumarta Warrarn Indigenous Protected Area, said the toads destroy water and animals and that they want to stop them to prevent the country from being destroyed.