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CANE TOADS: THE CONQUEST is a comic yet provocative account of Australia’s most notorious environmental blunder, a documentary horror film about the environmental devastation left in the wake of the cane toads’ unstoppable march across the great land down under.
Director: Mark Lewis
Share this film. Give others the chance to learn from its story.
Make sure not to carry plants, fruits, or vegetables that could harbor potential invasive species when traveling.
Support the Invasive Species Specialist Group, a branch of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature that “aims to reduce threats to natural ecosystems and the native species they contain by increasing awareness of invasive alien species.”
Donate to the Foundation for Australia’s Most Endangered Species (FAME) that is working with Sydney University and a number of scientists to stop the spread of the cane toad.
Give to the National Wildlife Federation‘s active campaign to stop invasive species—both plants and wildlife—from threatening the local environment in the U.S.
“You’ve made a few documentaries about cane toads now, and I think you’ve done a good job of establishing them as a terrifying threat but also as a kind-of unwitting victim to a certain degree. Where do you stand now? When you see a cane toad, are you tempted to stamp on it or defend it?”
Go to Quickflix to read the answer to this question and many more.
“Despite any technological milestones of his work, Australian documentary film-maker Mark Lewis is most beguiled by ‘the story of biological control gone wrong, scientists telling us what was good for us which we then found out wasn’t.'”
CaneToadsinOz.com will tell you how the cane toads live, what effect they have on native species, and, how science may be able to help us control these troublesome pests.
“Special fences built around dams in arid parts of Australia could help eradicate the menace of cane toads, according to new research. The toads, regarded as poisonous pests, are drawn to the dams by the need for water and die in large numbers if fences hold them back, scientists said.”
Very few places on Earth are free of invasive species, as everywhere humans go, we introduce unwanted species, but there are a few still out there. “Few if any alien species live deep within the Amazon or in Borneo, despite the presence of people living there. But that’s because those isolated tribes don’t come into contact with potential invaders themselves.”
Find out more about this on BBC Future.
“They’re often the most ubiquitous examples of man’s failure against nature. These creatures spread quickly, resist any attempt at control and are wildly undesirable.”
Check out the list on The Huffington Post.
“I received a letter that ends, as far as I am concerned, the discussion about 3D. It doesn’t work with our brains and it never will. The notion that we are asked to pay a premium to witness an inferior and inherently brain-confusing image is outrageous. ”
Read esteemed film editor and sound designer Walter Murch’s letter to Roger Ebert about the 3D film phenomenon on Roger Ebert.com.
