They say cats have nine lives. Now a Chinese toad has joined that
club of wily survivors.
South Africans are marvelling at the endurance of a toad that got
trapped in a cargo shipment from China to Cape Town after jumping
into a porcelain candlestick that was made there. South African
officials reportedly planned to put down the creature, fearing it
would cause harm as an invasive species if it were let go in the
wild.
But the toad got a last-minute reprieve. Mango Airlines, a South
African airline, transported the toad on Friday to Johannesburg for
delivery to an animal sanctuary after officials decided to find a
way to let the globe-trotting toad live. The two-hour flight was a
breeze compared to the trip from China, an odyssey of many weeks
and thousands of kilometres across the Indian Ocean.
Airline spokesman Hein Kaiser said the toad got "first-class
treatment," sitting in the cockpit in a transparent plastic
container with escort Brett Glasby, an animal welfare inspector.
There was even a mock ceremony in which the toad's boarding pass
was handed to Glasby.
"He was the star of the show on the flight," Kaiser said of the
amphibious passenger. "I think every passenger stopped to have a
look."
On landing in Johannesburg, the toad, dubbed Jack B Nimble, was
brought out of his container for a celebrity-style photo
call.
Observers said the mottled brown toad seemed like a cool customer.
"Pretty chilled," as Kaiser put it.
It belongs to the Asian Gold Toad species, which breeds during
monsoon season. It is believed to have survived the trip from China
by hardening its skin to prevent it drying out and also slowing its
breathing and heart rate, methods that help the species survive in
times of drought.
"We've had snakes in the imported timber, scorpions in fruit. We
were called because it was right inside the candlestick and we had
to break it to get it out," Glasby, the inspector,
told The
Star, a South African newspaper. "It was manufactured in China
and the box was not opened between China and the store here, so we
can deduce it has come all the way from China."
A startled customer at a store spotted a toad leg sticking out of
the candle holder, according to the Cape Town region's animal
protection agency, the SPCA.
Conservationists fed the toad worms and crickets after its rescue.
By all accounts, the toad ate like a horse.
Its new home is the Montecasino entertainment complex in
Johannesburg. The toad will be in quarantine for a couple of weeks
and is slated for display next month.
The toad's adventures got rave reviews on the SPCA's Facebook
site.
"What a special Christmas story!!" one posting said. Said another:
"Most famous Toad in the world."