Researchers discovered a record-breaking cane toad in Queensland, Australia, that was so big, they nicknamed it “Toadzilla,” the BBC reported Thursday.
“Toadzilla” is six times the size of an average toad, weighing in at 2.7 kilograms — a potential world record, the BBC reported. Park ranger Kylee Gray discovered it while she was out on patrol in the north Australian rainforest in Queensland, and was quickly placed in a container and taken back to a base to be weighed.
“There was a red-belly black snake on the track in front of us … so we stopped to let the snake pass and got out of the vehicle and right next to us was this huge cane toad,” Gray told Australian Broadcast Corporation. “It flinched when I walked up to it and I yelled out to my supervisor to show him.”
Footage of the incredible creature was captured shortly after its discovery and shared on social media.
Could ‘Toadzilla’ be the world’s largest cane toad on record?
This ‘monster’ amphibian, spotted in Queensland, weighs a whopping 2.7kgs and is 25cms long.
The toad has been euthanised and will be taken to the QLD Museum for inspection. For more, visit: https://t.co/nXTkER1ffc pic.twitter.com/MZSfY3bIMC
— SBS News (@SBSNews) January 20, 2023
The largest known toad was discovered in 1991, weighing in at 2.65 kilograms according to the Guinness World Record. (RELATED: Man Uses Frying Pan In Epic Battle Against Crocodile)
Toads are non-native to Australia, reportedly have no natural predators, and have wrought havoc on native animal populations, the BBC noted. Apparently this was reason enough for the amazingly large animal to be euthanized so it can appear in a museum instead of living its life happily ever after.