Top toad stopper gets nod
DOING his bit to the rid the Far North of the cane toad scourge has earnt a young man from Tolga a mention in the Tropical North Queensland Innovation Awards.
Kelby Cifuentes, 11, joins 15 other businesses and Far North Queensland start-ups in being short-listed for the People’s Choice category.
Kelby, a self-described environmentalist, said he came up with his innovative idea — called the Toadinator — after hearing cane toad calls from a nearby dam.
“I thought I would stop them in their path across Australia by making a trap,” he said.
Kelby got to work building a trap from a poly pipe with two funnels at each end.
“The tadpoles go in the ends and they can’t swim out.”
The trap is retrieved, toad tadpoles are euthanized and the frog tadpoles returned to the water.
Cairns Regional Council Mayor Bob Manning said the award aimed to encourage entrepreneurial endeavours in North Queensland.
“The awards recognise products and services that are already out in the marketplace, but also those that are still in the development phase,” he said.
Winners will be announced at the Tropical North Queensland Innovation Awards on November 22 at the Tanks Arts Centre.
“The People’s Choice category gives everyone the chance to say which product they can see having real commercial potential or making a difference to our community’s future,” Mayor Manning said.
To vote, visit cairns.qld.gov.au/innovate before November 12.