Scientists in Australia have started training an endangered furry marsupial to avoid eating toxic toads.

The Quoll is a type of wild Australian cat that's developed a taste for a poisonous toad that's been introduced from Latin America.

Now a government-funded project has been set up to train the Quoll to be "toad-smart" and avoid the deadly amphibians.

Quolls are exposed to food containing toad skins and nauseous chemicals which they gradually learn to avoid.

A successful experimental programme from 2010 showed that the toad-smart females not only survived and reproduced but that new generations learnt to avoid eating the toads from them, resulting in a five-fold increase in local quoll numbers.

Up to 30 trained quolls will be released this year, as part of a 3 year plan to re-introduce the animal into the wild.