Can we mitigate cane toad impacts on northern quolls?

The spread of the toxic cane toad Rhinella marina threatens populations of the endangered northern quoll Dasyurus hallucatus. We identified quoll populations at risk from toad invasion in the central Kimberley and explored whether free ranging quolls would consume ‘toad-aversion’ baits that induce aversions to live toads. A long-term study in Kakadu National Park showed that each generation of quolls learns to avoid toads, so one deployment of toad-aversion baits could protect quolls from toads. Encouragingly, 50% of wild quolls at Sir John Gorge, Mornington Wildlife Sanctuary (central Kimberley) consumed toad-aversion sausages. More research on captive quolls is necessary to develop long-lasting toad-aversion baits suitable for aerial deployment.