🔗 Share this article

It is Friday night at 7:30, but instead of going out or relaxing at home, I've caught a train to a town in the countryside to meet up with volunteers from a amphibian rescue group. These dedicated individuals sacrifice their evenings to safeguard the local toad population.

A Worrying Drop in Population

The Bufo bufo is becoming increasingly rare. A latest study conducted by an wildlife conservation group showed that the British common toad numbers have dropped by half since 1985. Seeing a creature that has been a fixture of the British countryside in decline is labeled "worrying" by experts. Toads "don't require very specific conditions" and "ought to live quite well in most of areas in the UK," so if even they are struggling to persist, "it indicates that the ecosystem is unbalanced."

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

The Danger from Traffic

Though the study didn't examine the causes for the drop, traffic is a major factor. Estimates suggest that 20 tons of toads are killed on British roads every year – that is, several hundred thousand. Unlike frogs, which might be happy to mate "with just a small container," toads favor big bodies of water. Their ability to stay out of water for longer than frogs allows they can travel further to find them – often hundreds of metres. They tend to follow their traditional paths – it's common for adult toads to go back to their birth 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 travelling after sunset. During that time, toads begin migrating from where they have been overwintering "all pretty much at the same time."

A local helper, who was raised in the region and has been trying to protect its toad population since he was a boy, explains that "Their sole purpose: to go and mate." If their route crosses a road, they could be killed by traffic, and that mating period would be lost – stopping a next generation of toads from being produced.

Toad Patrols Across the United Kingdom

Seeing hundreds of dead toads on nearby streets "inherently strikes a chord with people," and has led to the formation of toad patrols throughout the UK – 274 groups are currently registered with a national initiative. These teams pick up toads and transport them across roads in containers, as well as counting the quantity of toads they encounter and advocating for other protection measures, such as road closures and underground wildlife tunnels.

Volunteers tend to operate during the migration season, when amphibian movements are more regular. However, this means they can miss groups of toadlets, which, having been spawn and then juveniles, exit their water habitats over an unpredictable schedule 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 get data on them. At least when adult toads are killed, their remains can be tallied.

Annual Work

Unlike many groups, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth season of operating, go out throughout the year – not nightly, but whenever weather are warm and wet, or if a member 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" – toad hibernation season has begun and it's been a arid period – but several of the helpers gamely agree to walk up and down their area with me and search for any toads. "Should anyone can find any toads tonight, that pair will find one," says the group coordinator, pointing to her 14-year-old son and the longtime volunteer. We've been out for two hours without a single toad sighting, and now they have scaled a wire barrier to inspect beneath some wood.

Community Participation

The mother and son joined the group a year and a half ago. The youngster loves all things wildlife and has an goal to become a conservationist, so his mother started to look for activities they could do together to help local wildlife. Now she enjoys it as much as he does, the middle-aged entrepreneur explains – so when the group was seeking a new manager lately, she volunteered for the role.

The teenager, too, has played an important role in the group. A video he made, urging the municipal authority to block a road through a protected area during breeding time, swung the decision the team's way. After a year of lobbying, the council agreed to an "restricted access" rule between 5pm and 5am from February through to spring. The majority of motorists duly avoided the road.

Additional Species and Difficulties

Several vehicles go by when I'm out on duty and we find some victims as a consequence – no toads, but several crushed salamanders. We spot one living newt as well, and the teenager is particularly pleased to see a harvestman, which moves in his hands. Yet despite the team's best efforts to show me a toad, the local population has clearly settled down for the winter. It seems that I wouldn't have had any better success elsewhere in the nation – all the rescue teams I contact explain that it's very difficult at this season.

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

One email I receive from a different helper, who has generously taken the trouble to check for toads in a noted location, considered the largest accurately monitored toad population in the UK, reaches me with the title: "None found." However, in late winter, he tells me, the group plans to assist around 10,000 adult toads over the street.

Effectiveness and Challenges

What level of impact can these organizations actually make? "The fact that volunteers are doing this regularly on cold, damp and unpleasant late nights is quite extraordinary," notes an researcher. "This effort that very much should be celebrated." However, while rescue teams are able to slow the decline, they can't stop it completely – not least because traffic is just one danger.

Additional Threats

The global warming has resulted in extended spells of dry weather, which cause the poor environment for some of the creatures that toads eat, such as invertebrates, while warmer ponds have caused an increase of toxic plants, which can be harmful to toads. Milder winters also cause toads to emerge from their dormancy more often, disrupting the energy conservation crucial to their life cycle. Loss of environment – particularly the disappearance of big water bodies – is an additional threat.

Researchers are "often concerned about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on biodiversity," but "There is a big value in just their presence." But toads play an important role in the food chain, consuming pretty much any invertebrates or tiny organisms they can swallow and in turn sustaining a number of birds and mammals, such as hedgehogs and otters. Improving conditions for toads – ie creating more ponds, protecting forests and installing amphibian passages – "benefits for a whole bunch of additional wildlife."

Cultural Importance

Another reason to work to preserve toads around is their "important cultural value," adds an expert. Legends and tales around toads go back {centuries|hundred