Bron: Reuters, 27 maart 2007:
SYDNEY (Reuters) - A huge cane toad the size of a small dog has been captured in the Australian tropical city of Darwin, startling environmentalists who are fighting to stop the poisonous reptiles from spread across the country.
"It's a monster toad," said Paul Cowdy from FrogWatch which captured the cane toad on Monday night.
"We've never seen a cane toad this big," he said on Tuesday. "It's a male and normally females are bigger."
The cane toad, regarded as a major pest in Australia, was one of 39 caught by a group from FrogWatch near Lee Point in Darwin. It measures 20.5 cm (8 inches) in length and weighs 840 grams (1.8 pounds) -- twice the normal weight.
Cane toads are one of Australia's worst environmental mistakes. The spread of the toads, whose skin is poisonous, has led to dramatic declines in populations of native snakes, goanna lizards and quolls, which are cat-sized marsupials.
"We capture them, put them in plastic bags, freeze them and turn them into liquid fertilizer," Cowdy said of the cane toads.
Cane toads were introduced from Hawaii in 1935 in a failed bid to control native cane beetles. There are now more than 200 million.
"It's a monster toad," said Paul Cowdy from FrogWatch which captured the cane toad on Monday night.
"We've never seen a cane toad this big," he said on Tuesday. "It's a male and normally females are bigger."
The cane toad, regarded as a major pest in Australia, was one of 39 caught by a group from FrogWatch near Lee Point in Darwin. It measures 20.5 cm (8 inches) in length and weighs 840 grams (1.8 pounds) -- twice the normal weight.
Cane toads are one of Australia's worst environmental mistakes. The spread of the toads, whose skin is poisonous, has led to dramatic declines in populations of native snakes, goanna lizards and quolls, which are cat-sized marsupials.
"We capture them, put them in plastic bags, freeze them and turn them into liquid fertilizer," Cowdy said of the cane toads.
Cane toads were introduced from Hawaii in 1935 in a failed bid to control native cane beetles. There are now more than 200 million.
Ander nieuws:
Vorige week was er hier op Martin Place een actie voor David Hicks, een tot de islam bekeerde Australiër, die van terreur wordt verdacht en al 5 jaar vastgehouden wordt in Guantanamo Bay. Er werd een petitie gehouden voor een eerlijk proces en zijn cel was nagebouwd. David Hicks is de eerste gevangene die voor een Amerikaanse militaire commissie verschijnt in Guantanamo Bay.
Dit verscheen vandaag op de website van Reuters:
"GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) - Australian David Hicks, the first prisoner to face a new U.S. war crimes tribunal, unexpectedly pleaded guilty on Monday to a charge of helping al Qaeda fight American troops and their allies during the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan.
Hicks entered his plea following the first day of hearings in the military tribunals created by Congress after the Supreme Court struck down an earlier version that President George W. Bush authorized to try foreign captives on terrorism charges.
Hicks, who has been held at Guantanamo for more than five years, could learn his sentence by the end of the week and could be back in Australia by the end of the year, said the chief prosecutor for the tribunals, Air Force Col. Moe Davis."This is the first step toward David returning to Australia," said one of Hicks' Australian lawyers, David McLeod.
Hicks, a 31-year-old former kangaroo skinner, had faced life imprisonment if convicted on the charge of providing material support for terrorism.
His guilty plea will bring a more lenient sentence and the judge ordered the prosecutors and defense lawyers to draw up a plea agreement by 4 p.m. EDT (2000 GMT) on Tuesday.
Under a long-standing diplomatic agreement, Hicks will serve his sentence in Australia."
Hicks entered his plea following the first day of hearings in the military tribunals created by Congress after the Supreme Court struck down an earlier version that President George W. Bush authorized to try foreign captives on terrorism charges.
Hicks, who has been held at Guantanamo for more than five years, could learn his sentence by the end of the week and could be back in Australia by the end of the year, said the chief prosecutor for the tribunals, Air Force Col. Moe Davis."This is the first step toward David returning to Australia," said one of Hicks' Australian lawyers, David McLeod.
Hicks, a 31-year-old former kangaroo skinner, had faced life imprisonment if convicted on the charge of providing material support for terrorism.
His guilty plea will bring a more lenient sentence and the judge ordered the prosecutors and defense lawyers to draw up a plea agreement by 4 p.m. EDT (2000 GMT) on Tuesday.
Under a long-standing diplomatic agreement, Hicks will serve his sentence in Australia."
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