Toadzilla seized in Australia

A giant cane toad the size of a small dog has been captured in northern Australia.

It has been nicknamed Toadzilla and is the biggest cane toad ever found in Australia's Northern territory.

Environmentalists have been trying to stop the spread of the poisonous creatures across the country's tropics.

The toads were introduced from Hawaii in the 1930s in a failed attempt to control native cane beetles.

Toadzilla was caught during a community hunt in Darwin.

Cane toads were first released in Queensland and have since marched in their millions across the country.

They are prolific breeders. Some estimates put their number as high as 200 million.

They have poisoned countless native animals, including crocodiles which have died after eating them.

The population of some snakes, lizards and small marsupials have also suffered greatly.

A Northern Territory MP once said the toads were such a menace that people should attack them with golf clubs to keep them at bay.