Cane toad killing off monitor lizards

ONE of the dreaded myna birds’ worst enemies is at risk of being killed by another pest.

Lace monitors are voracious predators of Indian myna birds – the winged menaces in plague proportions across Cairns.

Unfortunately, local wildlife carers said the reptiles were unable to gorge themselves their regular diet of myna bird eggs, as the lizards were increasingly falling victim to cane toad poison.

They are urging residents to do what they can to remove toads from their yards, in order to keep lace monitors around to help control rising myna bird populations.

A 1m long lizard was rescued from a Parra-
matta Park yard about three weeks ago by Cairns Snake Removals owner David Walton, after residents reported the large lizard had been acting strangely.

Mr Walton said it appeared the animal had eaten a cane toad.

“The goanna has been regularly spotted in the yard for the last four years,’’ Mr Walton said.

“The residents, however, watched it fall backwards out of a tree, like it was drunk. I came and picked it up and took it to the vet.’’

Despite many injections of anti-
biotics and plenty of food and water, the lace monitor has lost half of its normal weight in the past three weeks.

Mr Walton said he was stunned by how much the poison had affected the lace monitor. “With these guys, they are normally extremely fast,’’ he said.

“Previous goannas I’ve handled, you grab them, you bleed.

“This fella’s not there at all.’’

The lizard will continue to be cared for by wildlife carers until it can be released back into the wild.

Mr Walton urged residents to remove cane toads from their properties. “We can avoid incidents like this if people clean up cane toads from their yard.’’