Management plan for cane toads in national parks and reserves 2012 © Copyright State of NSW and Office of Environment and Heritage With the exception of photographs, the State of NSW and Office of Environment and Heritage are pleased to allow this material to be reproduced in whole or in part for educational and non-commercial use, provided the meaning is unchanged and its source, publisher and authorship are acknowledged. Specific permission is required for the reproduction of photographs. The Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) has compiled this management plan in good faith, exercising all due care and attention. No representation is made about the accuracy, completeness or suitability of the information in this publication for any particular purpose. OEH shall not be liable for any damage which may occur to any person or organisation taking action or not on the basis of this publication. Readers should seek appropriate advice when applying the information to their specific needs. This document may be subject to revision without notice and readers should ensure they are using the latest version. Cover photograph: Cane toad Bufo marinus. Photo: John Pumpars Published by: Office of Environment and Heritage NSW 59 Goulburn Street, Sydney NSW 2000 PO Box A290, Sydney South NSW 1232 Phone: (02) 9995 5000 (switchboard) Phone: 131 555 (environment information and publications requests) Phone: 1300 361 967 (national parks, climate change and energy efficiency information, and publications requests) Fax: (02) 9995 5999 TTY users: phone 133 677, then ask for 131 555 Speak and listen users: phone 1300 555 727, then ask for 131 555 Email: [email protected] Website: www.environment.nsw.gov.au Report pollution and environmental incidents Environment Line: 131 555 (NSW only) or [email protected] See also www.environment.nsw.gov.au ISBN 978 1 74293 393 1 OEH 2013/0772 November 2013 Contents Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1 Objectives ....................................................................................................................... 4 Actions ........................................................................................................................... 5 References.................................................................................................................... 12 Appendices ................................................................................................................... 13 Introduction Cane toads Bufo marinus were introduced into northern Queensland from South America in 1935 as a biological control for the cane beetle, an agricultural pest of sugar cane. Cane toads have since spread west into the Northern Territory and the top end of Western Australia and south into northern NSW. Their spread in northern NSW was aided by further releases near Byron Bay and Ballina in the 1960s. Cane toads are now widespread in north-east NSW north of Evans Head, with small isolated populations occurring further south, including at Angourie and Brooms Head near Yamba (Figure 1) and at Taren Point near Sydney. Cane toads are also approaching the border in north-west NSW via the Murray–Darling and Lake Eyre basins in Queensland. The impacts of cane toads on biodiversity are unclear. Cane toads are toxic at all stages of their life cycle, as eggs, tadpoles, toadlets and adults, and their ingestion can be lethal to native predators (Hayes et al 2009). Cane toads have been linked to local declines and extinctions of several native predator species in the Northern Territory and Queensland, most notably the northern quoll (Burnett 1997, Watson & Woinarski 2003, Oakwood 2004). However, there is little data for most native predators on the frequency with which they prey on cane toads or the effects such frequency has on long-term population dynamics and extinction risk. There is also little evidence of other direct impacts by cane toads on native fauna, although declines in numbers of native predators may have cascading effects on other species (Shine 2010). Management plan for cane toads in national parks and reserves 2012 1 Figure 1 Distribution of cane toads in northern NSW as indicated by species records from 1980–2011. Source: the Atlas of NSW Wildlife 2 Management plan for cane toads in national parks and reserves 2012 Given the potential for significant adverse impacts on several native species, ‘invasion and establishment of cane toads’ has been listed as a key threatening process under the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 – see www.environment.nsw.gov.au/determinations/BufoMarinusKtp.htm. Similarly, ‘biological effects, including lethal toxic ingestion, caused by cane toads’ has been listed as a key threatening process under the Commonwealth Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/invasive/ferals/cane-toads/index.html#ktp. Eradication of cane toads in NSW is not feasible given their high reproductive capacity, flexible habitat requirements and current widespread distribution. Furthermore, there are insufficient resources to control cane toads effectively in all areas where they coexist with native wildlife. Consistent with the goals of the NSW Invasive Species Plan 2008–2015 (NSW Department of Primary Industries 2008), management of cane toads in NSW should aim to: x prevent further spread of cane toads through the eradication of outlier populations and surveillance of and response to new populations (containment) x minimise the impacts of cane toads on biodiversity in areas of NSW where they are established and widespread, through targeted control (asset protection). This plan outlines how cane toads will be managed in national parks and reserves in NSW (hereafter referred to as on-park) in keeping with the goals of containment and asset protection. In particular, management on-park will be determined by a containment line beyond which the objective will be to eradicate cane toads. Inside the containment line, the objective will be to minimise the impacts of cane toads on biodiversity through targeted control. The engagement of other land managers and the wider community in this approach may provide better information to guide management on-park and also benefit biodiversity across all tenures. Management plan for cane toads in national parks and reserves 2012 3 Objectives The specific objectives of this plan are: 1. To eradicate all outlier populations of cane toads on-park. 2. To ensure no new populations of cane toads are established on-park beyond their current distribution. 3. To minimise the impacts of cane toads on biodiversity on-park in areas of NSW where cane toads are established and widespread. 4. To encourage other land managers and the broader community in NSW to adopt these objectives. 4 Management plan for cane toads in national parks and reserves 2012 Actions Action 1: Identify and eradicate outlier populations of cane toads on- park To identify outlier populations of cane toads to target for eradication, a containment line was drawn based on their current known distribution (Figure 2). The line forms an envelope around the area of north-east NSW where records of cane toads are abundant and continuous. The line has been modified to take account of potential barriers to movement (e.g. the Clarence River), potential survey lines (e.g. major roads) and land tenure. The following known populations of cane toads in or immediately adjacent to parks were thus identified as outlier populations: x Bundjalung National Park x Mororo Creek Nature Reserve and surrounds x Yaegl Nature Reserve x Angourie, including the northern end of Yuraygir National Park x Brooms Head, adjacent to Yuraygir National Park x Taren Point, adjacent to Towra Point Nature Reserve. The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) will control cane toads on-park at the sites listed above with the objective of eradication. Control works will be detailed in a site plan as illustrated in Appendix 1 and will be planned and reported through the NPWS Pest and Weed Information System. NPWS will assist managers of adjacent lands to control cane toads on these sites as required. Action 2: Undertake surveillance of and respond to new populations of cane toads on-park beyond their current distribution NPWS staff will submit observations of cane toads in or near parks outside the containment line to the Atlas of NSW Wildlife. Observations at sites with no current records (i.e. new sites) will also be reported to the NPWS Pest Management Officer for the Region. The Pest Management Officer will initiate the preparation of a site plan as described above under Action 1. Action 3: Identify priority sites for management on-park in areas of NSW where cane toads are established and widespread, and initiate control programs Records of threatened native predators at risk from cane toads were overlaid on the area delineated by the containment line (Figure 3). The records were accessed from the Atlas of NSW Wildlife database (www.environment.nsw.gov.au/wildlifeatlas/about.htm). Note that expert opinion and data from Beckmann and Shine (2009) were used to refine the list of species at risk. Thus species of native frogs were included as some level of predation by native frogs on the tadpoles or eggs of cane toads is likely. However, some other native predators were excluded on the premise that they were unlikely to prey on cane toads