Words & Photography by Rosie Wang

Wandering through Port Douglas, you might hear the roar of a distant crowd on most nights and mistake it for a major sporting event. You will not be wrong - the cheers emanate from the Toad Arena, not a coliseum of gladiatorial bravery, but a place where the laid-back 'gladiators' are cane toads. Here, it's not a fight to the death, but a hop to the finish line (or the edge of the table) that excites the crowd. No bloodshed is needed to make the audience go wild.

This is a typical night in Port Douglas at the Cane Toad Racing, a tradition dating back to 1994. It marks the inception of the first-ever cane toad racing events in Australia, pioneered and established right here in Port Douglas.

If horse racing is known as the ‘sport of kings’, Toad Racing must be the ‘sport of jesters’.

While horses are bred for pedigree and lineage, cane toads are chosen for their availability in the wild, ready to be captured and handled with care, for their moment of stardom.  

With the increased popularity of the sport, the venue was moved three years ago from the Iron Bar, to the purpose built Toad Arena, which frequently draws crowds in their couple of hundreds.

It’s common to see groups of expectant people gravitating towards Chilly’s Pizzeria & Trattoria around dusk in the evenings (Tuesday to Saturdays) as they take their ringside seats in the Toad Arena.

When all settles under a hushed gaze, MC and Race Master of 3 decades, Nick Gibson (“Nicki G”), welcomes that evening’s punters and introduces the ‘runners’.

Cane toads (Bufo marinus) have a number of distinguishing features that set them apart from their more indigenous counterparts.  These featured include a dry, warty skin, leathery webbing in the back toes, a bony ridge from their eyes to their nose and large glands on each shoulder, a look that only a mother cane toad would love!

And for the purposes of the punters and spectators at the races the contestants also sport colour racing harnesses or ‘jumpsuits’ (or in layman terms, coloured scrunchies) to help distinguish the different runners.

Sporting green in tonight’s line up is Jerry Springer (Jerry! Jerry!); in yellow is Fat B*st**d, a rather more portly competitor (the largest “Toadzilla” was found in QLD and weighed 2.7kg); in pink is Gay Freddo (who speaks with a slight lisp, and doesn’t so much jump but sashays; in white is Skippy’s Lovechild (actually found in a dead kangaroo’s pouch - whilst searching for a possible alive joey after being killed in a road accident); in red is the man-hating Camel Toad, in blue is the patriotic Aussie Aussie Aussie; in brown (or should it be orange?) Donald Jump and finally in black, Jebediah Springfield, named after the founder of Springfield in the Simpsons, who also had a prosthetic silver tongue. Cane toads have such long tongues they practically lick their own hearts as they eat!

A few rules are given to the jockeys before commencement.  No head sucking on cane toads, No fingers up derrieres to chivvy them along and No slam dunking in buckets.

As tradition dictates, all jockeys must give their steeds a good luck kiss before being placed in the starting position (an upturned bucket). Sadly, none turn into princes in the process. The race starts when the bucket is raised and the jockeys positioned around the table use party blowers to gently cajole their steeds to the edge of the table.

The arena atmosphere was electric as these finely honed athletic beings started to lollop leisurely. Despite frantic party blowering by the jockeys it was a one toad race.   Before the jockey could cup her hand to catch her, Camel Toad had leapt right off the table. She’d decided to return to her cane toad life of obscurity. Shunning the bright lights of the arena she was now on her dash under the chairs of the spectators back to her cane toad ghetto.

The crowd whelped with delight and were baying for the next round (now with one contestant down).

For this quirky family entertainment and an all round fun evening (with delicious food a bonus) Cane Toad racing is a ‘must do’ while visiting Port Douglas.

Cane Toad History

Introduced to Australia in the 1930s from Hawaii to control cane beetles, cane toads were ineffective due to their inability to reach the beetles living high up in the cane. Instead, the toads reproduced rapidly and by August 1935, their numbers had soared from 102 to 2,400.

Further releases across northern Australia led to an explosion in population, with estimates now ranging from 200 million to 10 billion. Cane toads spread at about 50 km per year and lay up to 30,000 eggs per spawn. Although some native birds like crows and magpies have learned to feed on non-toxic parts of the toads, their unchecked growth poses a significant ecological threat.

But rather than share all of Niki G’s facts and interesting anecdotes about everything Cane Toads go and check it out for yourself. No cane toads were harmed in the writing of this article or the racing of the toad.

Go cane toad racing on 6.00pm from Tuesday - Saturday at Chilly’s Pizzeria & Trattoria, 2 Mowbray Street, Port Douglas 07 4099 4444