“Toadzilla”, the record-breaking giant toad

(CNN) — Rangers in northeastern Australia were shocked when they spotted a huge toad weighing nearly 3 kg (6 pounds).

The 2.7-kilogram (5.9-pound) amphibian, nicknamed “Todzilla” by rangers, was found in Queensland’s Conway National Park last week while park officials were on surveillance, the Department of Environment said. .

In A tweet from ThursdayThe rangers were “shocked to find a monstrous cane toad,” the department said.

Ranger Kylie Gray said the team encountered the gigantic creature when they got out of their vehicle to let a snake slither down the trail.

“I reached down and held the cane toad and couldn’t believe how big and heavy it was,” Gray said in a department statement Friday.

“We named it Toddilla,” Gray said, adding that they worked quickly to remove it from the wild because a cane toad its size will eat “anything it can fit in its mouth.”

Believed to be female, they usually grow larger than their male counterpart, the toad was taken back to the ranger’s base by weight. Rangers say Toadzilla could set a new record.

Toadzilla was placed in a bucket of water for his monumental weight. Queensland Department of Environment and Science/Reuters

The Current Guinness World Record The largest toad was established in 1991 by Prinsen, a pet in Sweden weighing 2.65 kg (5.13 lb).

The department added in its tweet that the todzilla “have been euthanized due to the environmental impact they cause.”

The Department of Environment and Science told CNN on Friday that it had been sent to the Queensland Museum for further examination.

Native to mainland South and Central America, cane toads were first introduced to Australia in 1935 as a biological control against sugarcane beetles. However, they have become an invasive and harmful species that has had a “devastating impact on our native wildlife,” the department added.