A giant cane toad nicknamed “Toadzilla” has been discovered in Australia.
The amphibian, which weighs 2.7kg, shocked rangers who discovered it by chance in Conway National Park in North Queensland.
The Queensland Department of Environment and Science said rangers were clearing a track when they spotted the toad.
Ranger Kylee Gray said her team was “blown away” by the “monster” cane toad which weighed 2.7kg and is believed to be female.
She told the Australian Broadcasting Corp it was by far the biggest toad she had encountered and said it looked “almost like a soccer ball with legs”.
“We weighed her when we got back to base in the late afternoon and we got her at 2.7 kilos, which just shocked us, absolutely blew us away,” she said. declared.
“We measured it, we got I think 255mm, but I think the Queensland Museum will do their measurements when they receive it.”
The Guinness World Record for the largest toad in history is 2.65 kg – set by a pet toad in Sweden in 1991.
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Ms Gray said rangers nicknamed the toad ‘Toadzilla’, adding that the museum would verify whether it was the largest toad found.
Cane toads are native to South and Central America and were introduced to Australia in 1935, according to the WWF.
Toads primarily eat live insects, but will consume anything they swallow, including pet food and household waste.
Toads are one of Australia’s most damaging pests and are now estimated to number over two billion.
