Cane Toads

'[Turvey] is an extremely entertaining writer who has the capacity to turn what could be a relatively dry subject in scientific history into a truly interesting read. Cane Toads is a fascinating book, which covers an often debated and discussed topic - the introduction of cane toads into Australia for the control of cane beetle.'

Nigel Turvey is an adjunct professor at the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University.

List of figures
Preface: of toads and men

1. The ancestors – fossil 41159
2. The apothecary’s toad
3. The sweet grass
4. Queensland sugar – Hope and Whish
5. Ladybird fantasy
6. The cane beetles
7. Hawai‘i leads biological control
8. Birth of a myth
9. Toad fantasy
10. Toads for Queensland
11. War on Canberra
12. Living with Bufo
13. Cane toad wars
14. Taking the Top End

'The richness of the scholarship of this engaging work comes from its traversing of the disciplinary divide, in much the same way the cane toad ignored the boundaries of the canefields of Queensland in the 1930s. Nigel Turvey offers us a biography of Bufo marinus, how it has come to be among us and the problem of the seemingly unending march – or colonisation – of the cane toad across northern Australia.'
Barney Glover   Australian Forest Grower

'Turvey has produced a fascinating exploration into the history of a biological disaster. He has made excellent use of historical records to gain insight into the decision-making processes of the time, and of scientific publications to catalogue the stat of current research in cant toad biology and control.'
Adele Haythornthwaite   Australian Zoologist

'He has delved into parliamentary records, correspondence between the sugar cane industry, the government and the pressure that was placed on scientists to give the government and industry the answer that they wanted and expected ... it is an account of what happens when industry pressures government along a predetermined road.'
  Frogcall No. 131

'Turvey provides useful historical context for the decision to introduce the cane toad into Australia and tells the story of its progressive invasion of the country.'
Alison Haynes   Austral Ecology

Format: paperback
Size: 210 × 148 × 15 mm
262 pages
10 colour illustrations and 24 b&w illustrations
Copyright: © 2013
ISBN: 9781743323595
Publication: 11 Oct 2013
Series: Animal Politics