🔗 Share this article

It's a Friday evening at 7:30, but rather than heading to the pub or watching a film, I've taken a train to a town in the countryside to meet up with volunteers from a toad patrol. These committed people sacrifice their nights to safeguard the native amphibian community.

An Alarming Decline in Numbers

The Bufo bufo is becoming increasingly rare. A latest study led by an wildlife conservation group showed that the British common toad numbers have dropped by half since the mid-1980s. Observing a creature that has been a stalwart of the UK landscape in decline is labeled "worrying" by researchers. Toads "don't need very specific conditions" and "ought to live successfully in the majority of habitats in Britain," so if even they are struggling to persist, "it indicates that things are not as they should be."

The UK toad population has almost halved since 1985

The Threat from Roads

Though the research didn't cover the reasons for the decline, cars is a major factor. Estimates indicate that 20 tons of toads are crushed on UK roads every year – that is, hundreds of thousands. In contrast to frogs, which might be content to mate "with just a small container," toads favor big bodies of water. Their capacity to remain away from water for more time than frogs allows they can journey farther to find them – sometimes hundreds of metres. They tend to stick to their ancestral migration routes – it's common for adult toads to go back to their natal pond to mate.

Migration Habits

Fittingly, the initial amphibians begin their quest for a mate around Valentine's day, but some move as late as spring, until it gets dark and travelling after sunset. During that time, toads begin migrating from where they have been hibernating "almost simultaneously."

A local helper, who was raised in the region and has been working to save its toad population since he was a child, explains that "Their sole purpose: to go and have an orgy." If their path crosses a street, they could be killed by traffic, and that breeding season would never happen – stopping a new generation of toads from being produced.

Rescue Groups Across the United Kingdom

Seeing hundreds of toad carcasses on nearby streets "resonates deeply with people," and has resulted in the formation of toad patrols throughout the UK – 274 groups are currently registered with a national initiative. These groups pick up toads and transport them over streets in containers, as well as counting the quantity of toads they find and advocating for other protection measures, such as blocked roads and amphibian passages.

Volunteers usually work during the breeding period, when amphibian movements are more regular. However, this implies they can overlook groups of toadlets, which, having existed as eggs and then juveniles, leave their water habitats over an unpredictable schedule in late summer. Because of their small stature – just one or two centimetres wide – "they are destroyed by car traffic." And as being hit "basically turns them into mush," it's more difficult to collect information on them. At least when mature amphibians are killed, their remains can be counted.

Annual Efforts

Unlike many groups, one local team, who are in their eighth season of functioning, go out throughout the year – not every night, but whenever conditions are warm and wet, or if a member has reported about a amphibian spotting in their group chat. When I request to accompany them on duty, they admit it is "not ideal conditions" – winter dormancy has started and it's been a dry day – but a few of the helpers willingly accept to patrol their route with me and search for any toads. "If anyone can find any toads tonight, that pair will spot one," says the patrol manager, indicating her 14-year-old son and the experienced member. We've been out for 120 minutes without a glimpse of any amphibians, and now they have climbed over a barbed wire fence to inspect beneath some logs.

Community Participation

The family duo joined the patrol a while back. The youngster loves all things nature-related and has an goal to become a environmentalist, so his parent started to look for activities they could do jointly to protect native animals. Now she loves it as much as he does, the middle-aged small business owner explains – so when the group was seeking a new manager lately, she decided to step up.

The teenager, too, has played an important role in the group. A clip he made, imploring the local council to block a street through a nature reserve during migration season, influenced the outcome the group's way. After a year of campaigning, the authority agreed to an "access-only" restriction between 5pm and 5am from late winter through to April. The majority of motorists respected and avoided the route.

Other Wildlife and Difficulties

Several cars go by when I'm out on patrol and we find some casualties as a result – no toads, but three squashed newts. We spot one live amphibian as well, and the youngster is especially excited to see a daddy longlegs, which dances in his hands. Yet despite the team's best efforts to show me a toad, the native community has clearly settled down for the colder months. It seems that I couldn't have found any more luck anywhere else in the country – all the rescue teams I contact clarify that it's very difficult at this season.

They project rescuing nearly 10,000 grown amphibians during migration

One email I get from a different helper, who has kindly made the effort to look for toads in a famous site, thought to be the biggest tracked toad population in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the subject line: "None found." However, in late winter, he tells me, the team expects to help around ten thousand mature amphibians over the street.

Impact and Limitations

What level of impact can these groups truly achieve? "The fact that volunteers are performing this regularly on chilly, wet and miserable late nights is quite extraordinary," notes an researcher. "That's something that very much should be celebrated." However, while rescue teams are able to reduce the drop, they can't stop it completely – not least because traffic is just one danger.

Additional Threats

The climate crisis has meant longer periods of dry weather, which cause the wrong conditions for some of the creatures that toads consume, such as worms and slugs, while higher water temperatures have caused an rise of blue-green algae, which can be harmful to toads. Milder winters also lead toads to wake up from their hibernation more often, disrupting the energy conservation crucial to their existence. Loss of environment – particularly the loss of large ponds – is an additional threat.

Experts are "often concerned about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on wildlife," but "There is a big value in just their presence." But toads do have an important role in the ecosystem, eating pretty much any small creatures or small animals they can fit in their mouths and in turn sustaining a number of birds and mammals, such as wildlife. Improving situations for toads – such as building water habitats, conserving woodland and installing amphibian passages – "we'll improve them for a wide range of additional wildlife."

Cultural Significance

Another reason to try to keep toads present is their "important cultural value," notes an specialist. Legends and tales around toads go back {centuries|hundred