Will Britain's Toads Be Saved from Traffic and Population Collapse?

It is Friday night at 7:30, but rather than heading to the pub or relaxing at home, I've taken a train to a town in the countryside to meet up with local helpers from a toad patrol. These dedicated individuals give up their nights to protect the native amphibian community.

An Alarming Drop in Population

The common toad is becoming increasingly uncommon. A latest study led by an amphibian and reptile charity revealed that the British common toad numbers have almost halved since 1985. Observing a creature that has been a stalwart of the UK landscape in decline is described as "worrying" by experts. Toads "don't need very particular environments" and "should be able to live quite well in most of areas in the UK," so if even they are struggling to persist, "it kind of suggests that things are not as they should be."

Toad populations across the UK have declined by almost 50% since the 1980s

The Danger from Roads

Though the study didn't examine the causes for the decline, cars certainly plays a part. Calculations suggest that 20 tonnes of toads are killed on British roads every year – that is, several hundred thousand. Unlike frogs, which might be content to mate "if you left out a small container," toads prefer large ponds. Their capacity to stay out of water for longer than frogs means they can journey farther to reach them – sometimes long distances. They tend to follow their traditional paths – it's typical for mature amphibians to return to their birth pond to mate.

Breeding Habits

Fittingly, the first toads begin their quest for a partner around Valentine's day, but others travel as far as April, until it gets dark and moving after sunset. During that time, toads start moving from where they have been hibernating "almost simultaneously."

One volunteer, who was raised in the area and has been working to save its toad population since he was a boy, explains that "They've got just one focus: to go and have an orgy." If their path happens to a road, they could be killed by traffic, and that mating period would never happen – stopping a next generation of toads from being produced.

Toad Patrols Throughout the United Kingdom

Finding many of toad carcasses on nearby streets "inherently strikes a chord with people," and has resulted in the formation of rescue teams throughout the UK – 274 groups are officially listed with a countrywide program. These teams pick up toads and transport them across roads in buckets, as well as recording the quantity of toads they find and advocating for other safety solutions, such as blocked roads and amphibian passages.

Patrols tend to operate during the migration season, when toad crossings are frequent. However, this implies they can overlook groups of young toads, which, having been eggs and then tadpoles, leave their ponds over an irregular timetable in the end of summer. Because of their size – just one or two centimetres wide – "they are destroyed by vehicles." And as being run over "basically turns them into mush," it's more difficult to collect information on them. At least when mature amphibians are killed, their carcasses can be counted.

Annual Work

Unlike most patrols, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth season of operating, go out throughout the year – not nightly, but when weather are damp, or if a member has posted about a amphibian spotting in their messaging app. When I request to accompany them on duty, they admit it is "not ideal conditions" – toad hibernation season has started and it's been a arid period – but several of the volunteers willingly accept to walk up and down their area with me and see what we can find. "Should anyone can locate any toads tonight, those two will find one," says the patrol manager, pointing to 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 scaled a wire barrier to inspect beneath some logs.

Family Participation

The mother and son joined the patrol a while back. The teenager adores all things wildlife and has an ambition to become a environmentalist, so his mother started to search for activities they could do together to help native animals. Now she enjoys it as much as he does, the middle-aged entrepreneur tells me – so when the group was looking for a fresh coordinator recently, she decided to step up.

The youth, too, has been instrumental in the organization. A video he created, urging the local council to block a road through a nature reserve during breeding time, influenced the outcome the team's way. After a twelve months of lobbying, the council approved an "access-only" restriction between evening and morning from late winter through to spring. The majority of motorists duly avoided the road.

Other Wildlife and Difficulties

Several cars go by when I'm out on duty and we find some victims as a result – no amphibians, but three squashed newts. We spot one live amphibian as well, and the teenager is especially excited to see a daddy longlegs, which moves in his palms. Yet despite the team's best efforts to show me a toad, the native community has obviously gone dormant for the colder months. It appears that I wouldn't have had any better success anywhere else in the country – all the patrol groups I contact explain that it's very difficult at this season.

They project rescuing nearly 10,000 grown amphibians during migration

A message I get from another volunteer, who has kindly made the effort to check for toads in a noted location, considered the biggest tracked toad population in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the title: "No toads." However, in late winter, he tells me, the team expects to help approximately 10,000 adult toads across the road.

Impact and Challenges

How much of a difference 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. "This effort that very much deserves recognition." However, while rescue teams are able to slow the decline, they can't stop it completely – partly since vehicles is not the only threat.

Other Dangers

The global warming has meant extended spells of drought, which cause the poor environment for some of the animals that toads consume, such as worms and slugs, while higher water temperatures have caused an rise of toxic plants, which can be harmful to toads. Milder winters also lead toads to wake up from their dormancy more often, disrupting the resource preservation crucial to their life cycle. Loss of environment – particularly the disappearance of big water bodies – is another menace.

Researchers are "always a bit worried about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on wildlife," but "There is a big value in just their presence." But toads play an important role in the food chain, eating pretty much any invertebrates or small animals they can swallow and in turn sustaining a variety of birds and mammals, such as hedgehogs and otters. Improving situations for toads – ie creating more ponds, conserving woodland and constructing toad tunnels – "we'll improve them for a wide range of other species."

Historical Importance

Another reason to work to preserve toads around is their "historical significance," adds an specialist. Myths and folklore around toads go back {centuries|hundred