Toad-proof fence 'smashes' invaders

THEY'RE used to keep out dingoes, wild dogs and feral cats. Now scientists say fences could stop cane toads invading large parts of arid Australia.

Toads died en masse after a team of Sydney researchers erected fences around several man-made dams in the Northern Territory, preventing the animals' access to lifesaving water.

The fences also stopped the pests re-establishing their population the following year, making the simple solution the first successful method of controlling cane toads long term.

"There were dead cane toads piled up around the fences," said the study leader, Mike Letnic, from the University of NSW. "We smashed them."

Since their ill-conceived introduction, cane toads have marched across northern Australia, decimating populations of several native species.

Scientists, conservations and governments have tried many ways to thwart the toxic pest; including trapping, biological controls, even using their own toxin against them, with only short-term success.

Dr Letnic said killing cane toads was one goal, but the bigger challenge was developing a control that prevented the next generation of toads re-invading.

He said the three fences they erected around dams were nothing fancy, made out of shade cloth that the toads could neither jump over or burrow under.

"We're not engineers, we built these rickety little fences. Kangaroos broke them, but if they were watertight we could keep cane toads out," he said.

His team has previously placed tracking devices on toads, discovering they couldn't not survive without water for more than three days.

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Toad-proof fence 'smashes' invaders