Cane toad of the waterways' makes its presence felt.

'Cane toad of the waterways' makes its presence felt. 18/02/2005. ABC News Online: "A noxious fish sometimes referred to as the cane toad of the waterways has spread to one of north Queensland's biggest river systems.

The tilapia, originally from southern Africa, has the potential to take over tropical rivers in much the same way carp has done to the Murray-Darling.

Scientists and amateur fishermen are critical of Queensland authorities for not taking action earlier to wipe out the pest."

This seems to happen a lot in Australia and I think it must be our climate and our nature that has a lot to do with it. Things get here unexpectedly from other places and then spread like wild fire. Happens with plants too. Our soursobs and Salvation Jane came from elsewhere. In Adelaide we had carp in the River Torrens. They started as a few and amused us all because they were so big and ugly. Then people tried to catch and eat them and they were too muddy tasting for us. Then we just ignored them and they multiplied prolifically. I remember going to the Botanic Gardens and the beautiful bit on the bridge is always a spot I head for . You used to take the stale bread and instead of feeding birds you were feeding these massive carp with big gaping mouths. Kids used to get that half thrilled half fear reaction. Well, thank heavens for the Vietnamese water puppets because when they were coming for our Adelaide festival of Arts we set about clearing the river and getting rid of the carp. The performers would never have been able to perform in wall to wall fish with big , greedy mouths. That was the kickstart we needed to motivate ourselves to solve the problem. Queenland will have to find its own motivator! The tilapia isn't really a cane toad. Cane toads are poisonous as well as destructive.