A giant poisonous toad thought to be one of only a few in the country has arrived at a Nottingham animal unit.
Boris the Sumatran marine toad has been bought by Nottingham Trent University.
The toad, which eats insects and small rodents, currently weighs more than 900 grams and could grow to the size of a rugby ball.
Boris stores a toxin known as bufotoxin in the glands just behind the eyes so anyone handling him must wear gloves.
Richard Plant, animal unit manager at Trent’s Brackenhurst campus in Southwell, said: “When I first started here we were re-aligning the unit and we didn’t have a very diverse range of animals so we went out looking for something a bit different.
“We weren’t expecting to get Boris but when we saw him we had to get him.
“Although he is very easy to handle, there are risks because of the toxin in his glands.
“In small doses it can be hallucinogenic but in larger doses it is dangerous, for example it could kill a dog if the dog decided to lick the glands of the toad.”
The animal unit at the university’s Brackenhurst campus has between 150 and 160 animals with 60 different species.
The unit is designed to provide students with hands-on experience of dealing with animals.
Richard added: “The students here have to clock up lots of work experience and we give them the opportunity to work with a variety of animals.”
