By KEILE CAMPBELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kcampbell@tribunemedia.net

CANE toads have become a permanent part of The Bahamas’ ecosystem, a local expert has warned, as sightings surge across New Providence and officials advise residents to kill the invasive species on sight to protect pets, wildlife and themselves.

The warning comes amid what Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Science Institute (BAMSI) general manager Deon Gibson described last week as a noticeable uptick in cane toad reports in both the far west and eastern New Providence. Mr Gibson advised residents to euthanise captured toads by sealing them in a bag and freezing them, or killing them from a safe distance with a long, piercing tool such as a pitchfork or fishing spear.

Dr Ancilleno Davis, assistant professor of small island studies at the University of The Bahamas, said the country must now prepare to live with the species permanently. “It is impossible for us to kill off all the cane toads,” he said. “Once they are here, you have to start learning to live with them and educating your community about them, especially kids and pet owners.”

Dr Davis said the toads’ reproductive ability and lack of predators virtually guarantee their long-term establishment. “Over the course of a life, an adult female could lay, you know, hundreds of thousands of eggs,” he said, adding that the animals face few threats once matured. “Those little cane toads, they pretty much, once they get to adult size, they do not have any predators that could take them, and the predators that try to take them might then end up dying.”

“Every time a wild animal kills one of them, that animal also dies, so it does not get to kill any others.”

Mr Gibson warned that cane toads pose a fatal risk to pets and can cause non-life-threatening reactions in humans. Their toxins can contaminate food and water sources left outdoors, potentially triggering seizures and death in small animals.

Dr Davis said the ecological impact will take years to stabilise, stressing that the toads prey on birds, frogs, snakes and other small animals while also poisoning local predators. “A stray dog or cat will think that its an easy meal, they bite into it and they will die,” he said. He added that children are especially vulnerable because they may pick up the animals without understanding the danger. “You could have significant reactions. Some people don't even feel it and then other people have major allergic reactions.”

He said toxins from the toads’ skin can trigger nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain, with severe exposures linked to cardiac effects such as rapid heartbeat or heart block.

Dr Davis said the current spike in reports is partly due to increased public education and the speed at which information spreads online. “Sometimes it is not necessarily that it just started happening, but now more people are educated, and now people know that cane toads are an issue, and so when they see one, they will report it as a cane toad,” he said.

Cane toads were first reported in western New Providence as early as 2013, and multiple official alerts have been issued since, alongside identification guides and public warnings as the species became more widely recognised.