Cane Toads – An Unnatural History
An offbeat documentary that looks at Australia’s cane toad pest problem – and exposes one of the most bizarre biological blunders of all time.
The Queensland Government imported the cane toad from Hawaii in 1935 to save the state’s sugar crop from the greyback beetle. The operation failed spectacularly – because the beetle could fly, and the cane toad couldn’t! The cane toad adapted beautifully to its new environment, spread everywhere, ate everything and soon became a pest of plague proportions. Pest or pet, this offbeat documentary takes a humorous look at the different ways people have responded to living with the cane toad.
Film Australia.
© National Film and Sound Archive of Australia.