Identification

Cane toad tadpoles are jet black all over and have a totally transparent tail without any pigment, dots stripes or other markings. Cane toad tadpoles grow to an average of 3cm and commonly school in large numbers in shallow water. They rarely come to the surface of the water to breath.

What does a cane toad look like?

Adult cane toads are usually very large - around 10 to 15 cm long (or 4 to 5 inches) with rough and extremely warty skin. If you find one over 4 cm long, you should be able to identify it from this picture.
They range from dull brown, yellowish to blackish on top and mottled brown underneath. Cane toads have large eardrums just below/behind the eyes, and large glands behind the head which exudes a white poisonous substance.

Smaller toads can easily be confused with native frogs and up to two-thirds of suspected toads turn out to be harmless frogs. If you are unsure, please take the animal to your local DEC office or email a digital photograph to DEC officers so it can be correctly identified.

 Is it a cane toad? Identifying toads (671.66 kB) 

Behavioural characteristics

Like many native frogs, adult cane toads are most active at night in open areas such as roads and lawns. Sometimes they congregate beneath street lamps and other lights to catch insects.

On land, toads walk and bound short distances but do not leap and are not capable of climbing smooth surfaces like some native frogs. They also typically sit more upright than native frogs.

If a cane toad is found outside the known distribution, please contact either your local DEC office or 1800 084 881, as soon as possible. A trained officer can then identify the animal and appropriately dispose of it, if it is a cane toad.

Frontline location of cane toads, as at 2 July 2009. Compiled by DEC from data made available from DEC and KTB on-ground operations.