🔗 Share this article

It is a Friday night at 7:30, but instead of going out or relaxing at home, I've taken a train to a town in the countryside to join local helpers from a amphibian rescue group. These committed people sacrifice their evenings to safeguard the local toad population.

A Worrying Decline in Numbers

The Bufo bufo is becoming increasingly uncommon. A latest research conducted by an amphibian and reptile charity showed that the British common toad numbers have dropped by half since 1985. Observing a species that has been a stalwart of the UK landscape in decline is described as "worrying" by experts. Toads "don't require very specific conditions" and "should be able to live successfully in most of habitats in Britain," meaning if even they are struggling to persist, "it kind of suggests that things are not as they should be."

The UK toad population has almost halved since 1985

The Danger from Traffic

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, several hundred thousand. In contrast to frogs, which would probably be happy to mate "with just a bucket of water," 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 – often hundreds of metres. They usually stick to their ancestral migration routes – it's typical for adult toads to return to their natal pond to mate.

Breeding Habits

Fittingly, the initial amphibians start their journey for a partner around February 14th, but others travel as late as spring, waiting until it gets dark and moving through the night. During that period, toads begin migrating from wherever they have been hibernating "almost simultaneously."

A local helper, who was raised in the area and has been working to save its amphibians since he was a boy, notes that "Their sole purpose: to go and mate." If their route happens to a street, they could be killed by traffic, and that mating period would never happen – preventing a new generation of toads from being produced.

Toad Patrols Across the United Kingdom

Seeing hundreds of toad carcasses on nearby streets "inherently strikes a chord with people," and has resulted in the creation of toad patrols throughout the UK – hundreds of organizations are officially listed with a countrywide program. These groups collect toads and carry them over streets in buckets, as well as recording the quantity of toads they find and lobbying for other protection measures, such as blocked roads and amphibian passages.

Volunteers tend to operate during the breeding period, when amphibian movements are frequent. However, this means they can miss groups of young toads, which, having existed as spawn and then juveniles, leave their ponds over an irregular timetable in the end of summer. Because of their small stature – just a couple of cm wide – "they are destroyed by car traffic." And as being hit "basically turns them into mush," it's harder to get data on them. At least when adult toads are killed, their remains can be counted.

Year-Round Work

In contrast to most patrols, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth season of functioning, go out throughout the year – not every night, but whenever conditions are damp, or if someone has posted about a amphibian spotting in their messaging app. When I ask to join them on duty, they admit it is "not ideal conditions" – winter dormancy has started and it's been a dry day – but several of the volunteers willingly accept to patrol their route with me and see what we can find. "Should anyone can find any toads tonight, those two will spot one," says the patrol manager, pointing to her teenage child and the experienced member. After for 120 minutes without a single toad sighting, and now they have scaled a barbed wire fence to inspect beneath some wood.

Family Involvement

The mother and son became part of the patrol a year and a half ago. The teenager loves all things nature-related and has an ambition to become a environmentalist, so his mother started to search for things they could do jointly to protect local wildlife. Now she enjoys it as much as he does, the middle-aged small business owner tells me – so when the team was seeking a fresh coordinator recently, she decided to step up.

The teenager, too, has been instrumental in the organization. A clip he created, urging the local council to close a road through a nature reserve during breeding time, swung the decision the group's way. After a year of lobbying, the authority approved an "access-only" restriction between evening and morning from February through to April. Most drivers respected and avoided the route.

Other Wildlife and Challenges

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 living newt as well, and the teenager is especially excited to see a harvestman, which dances in his palms. Yet in spite of the team's hardest attempts to let me see a toad, the local population has clearly settled down for the winter. It seems that I couldn't have found any better success anywhere else in the country – all the patrol groups I reach out to clarify that it's very difficult at this season.

This team anticipates assisting around ten thousand mature toads over the street

A message I get from a different helper, who has kindly made the effort to look for toads in a noted location, considered the largest accurately monitored toad group in the UK, reaches me with the subject line: "No toads." However, in late winter, he informs me, the group expects to help around 10,000 adult toads across the road.

Effectiveness and Challenges

How much of a difference can these groups actually make? "The fact that volunteers are doing this consistently on cold, damp and unpleasant late nights is quite extraordinary," says an researcher. "That's something that very much deserves recognition." However, while rescue teams are able to slow the decline, they can't stop it completely – partly since traffic is not the only threat.

Other Dangers

The climate crisis has resulted in longer periods of drought, which create the wrong conditions for some of the animals that toads eat, such as invertebrates, while higher water temperatures have caused an rise of blue-green algae, which can be toxic to toads. Warmer cold seasons also cause toads to wake up from their dormancy more often, interfering with the energy conservation vital to their life cycle. Habitat destruction – especially the disappearance of big water bodies – is an additional threat.

Experts are "always a bit worried about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on biodiversity," but "It's important in just having these animals around." But toads do have an significant part in the ecosystem, consuming pretty much any small creatures or tiny organisms they can swallow and in turn sustaining a variety of birds and mammals, such as hedgehogs and otters. Enhancing situations for toads – ie creating more ponds, protecting forests and installing toad tunnels – "we'll improve them for a whole bunch of additional wildlife."

Cultural Importance

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