The invasive cane toad - volunteers fight to protect Taiwan

As night falls, a group of people with headlamps quietly appear on the ridge of a field – they are searching ditches for the invasive cane toad, one of the world's top 100 invasive species. It is poisonous, lays 8,000 to 35,000 eggs at a time, and typically measures 12 to 15 centimeters long, with some reaching a massive 30 centimeters.

In 1935, the cane toad was introduced to Taiwan from Hawaii to control pests. Later, it began to be imported as a household pet, so now the Forestry Bureau has decided to control them at the source. Such measures, coupled with the concerted efforts of volunteers, will hopefully be enough to effectively control the cane toad and avoid damaging the delicate ecological balance in Taiwan.

以下為中文對照

外來強勢海蟾蜍 志工齊心護台灣

  夕陽下山夜晚降臨，在一片寂靜的田埂上，靜悄悄地出現，一群載著頭燈，巡視溝渠的人們，原來他們正在移除，一種名叫海蟾蜍的入侵外來種。海蟾蜍是列名全世界百大外來入侵種，本身有毒，體長可到12公分到15公分，最大可到30公分，牠一次產卵八千到三萬五千顆。

 台灣是在1935年，特意將海蟾蜍從夏威夷引入，那時候是要控制害蟲。後來則多以寵物的名義進口，所以現在林務局要從源頭管控。同時在志工齊心努力之下，希望未來能夠有效控制，海蟾蜍繼續繁衍下去，避免台灣生態失衡。

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