I predict this is going to be one of the next reptilian news trends.

I closely follow current events of reptiles and amphibians via dozens of Google Alerts that magically appear in my inbox daily. So I'm up on what's up in the herp world. For a long time, the newspapers had a lot to say about burying gopher tortoises alive. Then they had a lot to say about restricting the practice of burying gopher tortoises alive. Then there was the massive Australian cane toad invasion. Then we had the out-of-control iguana population in many Florida locales. This winter we have those iguanas falling out of trees.

Just bubbling to the surface recently is the story of the red-eared slider becoming the next cane toad in Australia. Just the other day I reported on red eared sliders in New Zealand, and as a footnote I stated that the species is outlawed in Australia. Apparently the slider has become a serious problem in Australia, where it can live and breed and has few predators. (The article cites two predators: foxes and goannas (monitor lizards).) In Australia you can't own red-eareds as pets, and they are certainly not allowed in the wild. They really aren't welcome anywhere. The turtle discussed in the article is to be euthanized.

It is rather important that they keep the sliders under control while they can, if possible. Otherwise they may compete too fiercely with Australian turtles and other water-dwellers for food. They really don't need another animal like the cane toad taking over the country. I predict that we'll be seeing more of the red-eared slider in the news before we see less of it, but I do hope that it doesn't wreak too much havoc.