Female cane toads are attracted to "Barry White"-style mating calls that could help sound the end of the pest populations, a Queensland study has found.

A James Cook University study mimicked the sound of cane toad mating calls and managed to catch 2000 toads across the Townsville campus and Orpheus Island off Ingham over a two year period.

PhD candidate Ben Muller said the initial audio traps managed to only capture 20 per cent of females.

"It is like any animal in the world, the female wants to pick the best mate, this is how toads do it, they pick their mates by the sound of their call," he said.