Australia is notorious for its historical wildlife management operations of varying success. Since the late 19th century, attempts at containing species to portions of the continent have taken the form of vast exclusion fences, while Australia’s record for intentionally introducing damaging invasive species is spectacular.
Cane toads brought over from Hawaii in 1935 were meant to control native beetles. Instead, the gigantic, toxic toad colonised Queensland and now numbers in the estimated billions, threatening wilderness thousands of kilometres from where it was first released.
Just a few years before the cane toad arrived, another remarkable wildlife control operation took place. In 1932, the Australian military undertook an operation to subdue the tall, flightless bird known as the emu. And they lost.
