Directed by Mark Lewis PG cert, Movies@Dundrum/ Swords, Dublin; Eye, Galway; Movies@Gorey, Wexford, 85 min
BY JUNE 1935, the Australian Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations had had quite enough of the native cane beetle. It was bad enough that adult dermolepida albohirtum, replete with characteristic “rotting pork” odour, were dining out on sugar leaves. But their larvae, little white grubs that loved to munch on vital roots and shoots, were laying waste to sugar crops all over Queensland. Regional farmers insisted that something must be done.
So, before you could say “ribbit”, just over 100 toads from Hawaii were released in areas around Cairns, Gordonvale and Innisfail. The amphibians, the boffins reasoned, could take care of those pesky stink beetles. And if they failed, what’s the worst that could happen?
Fast forward a few decades, and Oz is struggling to contain a biblical-sized plague of some 1.5 billion feral toads hopping slowly but surely across the continent.
Cane Toads: The Conquest 3D, charts the history of this ecological mishap with its tongue firmly in its parotoid gland. A belated expanded sequel to the Bafta-winning Cane Toads: An Unnatural History, this engaging documentary grossed more than $1 million on its home turf.
It’s easy to see why. The history is impeccably researched, the science is rigorous and, best of all, the on-camera testimonies are delightfully deadpan. “Send ’em back to Hawaii, scolds one of original Cairns farmers. “Send ’em back to Barack Obama.” We hear folksy tales outlining anti- toad amusements such as toad cricket and toad golf. Some people freeze them; others like to squelch them on toad-carpeted roads.
But with no natural predator, the plague just keeps on coming. Mama toads spawn thousands of eggs at a time. The toads on the western frontier of their advance have even evolved larger legs to help them migrate at an average of 40 kilometres per year.
Film-maker Mark Lewis displays a sneaking admiration for the sheer Darwinian chutzpah of the species. His affinity and robust sense of humour make for a winning family entertainment and fun biology field trip.
In a final irony, as toads are not known for strolling around on stilts or burrowing, the creatures were never dextrous enough to get at the beetles in the first place.
