Conditioned taste aversion - as applied to goannas

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In 1935 cane toads were introduced into Queensland from South America, in the hope of controlling cane beetles that were damaging sugar cane crops. However, they multiplied rapidly and have now spread across the whole top end of Australia and are making their way down the west coast. They have no natural predators. Native predators such as crocodiles, snakes, goannas and birds succumb to the toxins present in the skin of the toads. When the toads arrived in some areas, 90% of the goanna population perished. Researchers are now training goannas to avoid the toads by feeding them enough of the toxin to make them sick but not enough to kill them. This ‘conditioned taste aversion’ has proven very successful and the ‘teacher toad technique’ might be applied to other species. Goannas are important in keeping a balance with an ecosystem. Goannas are also an significant source of ‘bush tucker’ for aborigines and an important totem. The photo of a sand monitor/racehorse goanna was taken in our garden in Donnybrook.