🔗 Share this article

It is Friday evening at 7:30, but instead of heading to the pub or watching a film, I've caught a train to a town in the countryside to join volunteers from a amphibian rescue group. These committed people sacrifice their evenings to safeguard the native amphibian community.

A Worrying Decline in Numbers

The common toad is growing more rare. A latest research conducted by an wildlife conservation group revealed 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 decrease is labeled "worrying" by researchers. Toads "don't require very particular environments" and "ought to live quite well in the majority of habitats in the UK," so 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 Roads

Though the research didn't cover the causes for the decline, traffic certainly plays a part. Estimates indicate that 20 tonnes of toads are crushed on UK roads every year – in other words, several hundred thousand. Unlike frogs, which might be happy to mate "with just a small container," toads prefer big bodies of water. Their capacity to remain away from water for more time than frogs means they can travel further to reach them – often hundreds of metres. They usually stick to their traditional paths – it's common for mature amphibians to go back to their natal pond to mate.

Migration Habits

Appropriately enough, the first toads begin their quest for a partner around February 14th, but some move as late as spring, waiting until it gets night and moving after sunset. During that time, toads begin migrating from wherever they have been overwintering "almost simultaneously."

One volunteer, who was raised in the area and has been trying to protect its amphibians since he was a boy, notes that "They've got just one focus: to go and mate." If their path happens to a street, they could all get run over, and that breeding season would never happen – preventing a next generation of toads from being produced.

Rescue Groups Across the United Kingdom

Seeing many of toad carcasses on local roads "resonates deeply with people," and has resulted in the creation of rescue teams across the UK – 274 groups are currently registered with a national initiative. These teams collect toads and transport them over streets in buckets, as well as counting the quantity of toads they find and advocating for other safety solutions, such as road closures and amphibian passages.

Volunteers tend to operate during the breeding period, when toad crossings are frequent. However, this implies they can overlook groups of toadlets, which, having existed as spawn and then tadpoles, exit their water habitats over an irregular timetable in the end of summer. Because of their size – just a couple of cm wide – "they can get obliterated 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 carcasses can be tallied.

Annual Work

Unlike many groups, one local team, who are in their eighth year of functioning, go out year-round – not nightly, but when conditions are damp, or if someone has reported about a toad sighting in their group chat. When I ask to join them on duty, they admit it is "not ideal conditions" – toad hibernation season has started and it's been a dry day – but a few of the helpers willingly accept to walk up and down their route with me and see what we can find. "Should anyone can locate any toads tonight, that pair will spot one," says the patrol manager, indicating her 14-year-old son and the longtime volunteer. After for two hours without a glimpse of any amphibians, and now they have climbed over a wire barrier to check under some wood.

Family Participation

The family duo joined the group a while back. The youngster adores all things wildlife and has an goal to become a conservationist, so his parent started to look for things they could do together to help native animals. Now she enjoys it as much as he does, the middle-aged small business owner explains – so when the group was seeking a fresh coordinator recently, she decided to step up.

The youth, too, has been instrumental in the group. A clip he created, imploring the municipal authority to block a road through a nature reserve during breeding time, swung the decision the group's way. After a twelve months of campaigning, the authority approved an "restricted access" rule between 5pm and 5am from February through to April. Most drivers respected and avoided the road.

Other Wildlife and Challenges

A few vehicles go by when I'm out on patrol and we discover some casualties as a result – no amphibians, but several crushed salamanders. We see one live amphibian as well, and the youngster is especially excited to see a harvestman, which dances in his hands. Yet in spite of the group's hardest attempts to show me a toad, the local population has obviously 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 explain that it's near-impossible at this time of year.

They project rescuing nearly 10,000 grown amphibians during migration

A message I get from another volunteer, who has generously taken the trouble to check for toads in a famous site, considered the biggest tracked toad population in the UK, reaches me with the title: "None found." However, in late winter, he informs me, the team expects to help approximately ten thousand adult toads over the street.

Effectiveness and Challenges

What level of impact can these groups actually make? "The reality that volunteers are doing this consistently on cold, damp and unpleasant late nights is quite extraordinary," notes an researcher. "This effort that very much deserves recognition." However, while toad patrols are able to slow the decline, they cannot prevent it entirely – partly since vehicles is not the only threat.

Other Dangers

The climate crisis has resulted in extended spells of drought, which create the poor environment for some of the animals that toads consume, such as invertebrates, while warmer ponds have caused an rise of toxic plants, which can be harmful to toads. Milder winters also lead toads to emerge from their dormancy more often, interfering with the resource preservation vital to their existence. Habitat destruction – especially the disappearance of big water bodies – is another menace.

Researchers 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 play an important role in the food chain, consuming almost any invertebrates or tiny organisms they can fit in their mouths and in turn feeding a number of predators, such as hedgehogs and otters. Enhancing situations for toads – ie building water habitats, protecting forests and constructing amphibian passages – "benefits for a wide range of additional wildlife."

Cultural Significance

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