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A mass cull of poisonous jungle invaders has taken place before the start of I’m A Celebrity . Environmental experts have killed off a staggering 38,000 toxic cane toads in the area where the ITV show is filmed. The reptiles pose a health risk to the new campmates set to include comedienne Ruby Wax, reality star Jack Osbourne and model and actress Kelly Brook . The brown-coloured cane toads secrete a harmful milky white slime through glands behind their eyes if they feel under threat. If any jungle stars touch this and then put their fingers to their mouth or eyes it can result in nausea, vomiting and in some cases hospitalisation. A source said: “The celebrities are always given a strict talk about what wildlife to avoid when they are in the camp but it is quite easy to brush past one of these toads and get slime on your hands or people might think they are cute frogs and try to stroke them.” The toxins can also kill birds, dogs and cats. Their increasing population is one of Australia ’s biggest headaches as the toads are multiple egg-layers and numbers have reached 200 million nationwide. The town of Murwillumbah in New South Wales where I’m A Celebrity - due to launch on Sunday November 16 - is filmed is rife with them. In a bid to control their ever-growing numbers in the region, an environmental group called Watergum embarked on a ‘Toad Bust’ in areas where they encouraged locals to capture the beasties and then euthanise them. Last year they caught and killed 4,684. But this year, as numbers expand even more, they managed to get rid of a whopping 38,322. A spokesperson for Watergum revealed: “The cane toad population has completely exploded in Australia because they are invasive species with no natural predators. “They are toxic at every life stage and poison Australian native wildlife like birds, quolls and native frogs, causing declines and local extinctions. They have a voracious appetite and they can lay up to 35,000 eggs at a time.” Cane toads were introduced in Australia back in 1935 in an attempt at controlling the onslaught of cane beetles. But the experiment did not work and instead the cane toad population rocketed with wildlife officials struggling to control numbers. The rainforest site where the TV show fronted by Ant and Dec is located is home to plenty of other nasties for the celebrities in the jungle camp. There are at least 14 different species of snake lurking in the bushes including the poisonous eastern brown, eastern small eye, rough scaled, golden crowned, brown tree, eastern bandy bandy, yellow faced whip snakes and red bellied black snakes. And then there are the eight legged beasties roaming around including the venomous funnel webs, trapdoor spiders and mouse spiders. As if that were not bad enough, the stars must also face the dreaded Bushtucker Trials. An insider said: “It’s certainly no jungle holiday.” Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .
