Can Britain's Toads Be Saved from Roads and Terrible Decline?

It is a Friday evening at 7:30, but rather than going out or watching a film, I've caught a train to a market town in Wiltshire to meet up with volunteers from a toad patrol. These dedicated individuals sacrifice their evenings to safeguard the native amphibian community.

A Worrying Drop in Numbers

The common toad is growing more uncommon. A latest study led by an amphibian and reptile charity revealed that the UK toad population have dropped by half since the mid-1980s. Seeing a species that has been a stalwart of the UK landscape in decrease is labeled "concerning" by researchers. Toads "don't require very specific conditions" and "ought to live successfully in the majority of areas in Britain," 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 Threat from Traffic

Though the research didn't examine the causes for the decline, traffic is a major factor. Calculations suggest that 20 tons of toads are crushed on British roads every year – that is, several hundred thousand. Unlike frogs, which would probably be content to mate "if you left out a bucket of water," toads favor big bodies of water. Their capacity to remain away from water for longer than frogs allows they can travel further to reach them – often long distances. They usually stick to their traditional paths – it's typical for mature amphibians to return to their birth pond to mate.

Breeding Habits

Appropriately enough, the first toads begin their quest for a mate around Valentine's day, but some move as far as spring, waiting until it gets night and travelling after sunset. During that time, toads begin migrating from where they have been overwintering "almost simultaneously."

One volunteer, who was raised in the area and has been working to save its toad population since he was a boy, notes that "Their sole purpose: to go and have an orgy." If their route happens to a road, they could be killed by traffic, and that breeding season would be lost – preventing a next generation of toads from being born.

Toad Patrols Throughout the UK

Seeing hundreds of dead toads on nearby streets "inherently strikes a chord with people," and has led to the creation of toad patrols across the UK – 274 groups are officially listed with a national initiative. These groups collect toads and carry them across roads in containers, as well as recording the quantity of toads they find and lobbying for other protection measures, such as road closures and underground wildlife tunnels.

Volunteers tend to operate during the breeding period, when amphibian movements are frequent. However, this means they can miss numbers of toadlets, which, having existed as spawn and then tadpoles, exit their water habitats over an unpredictable schedule in the end of summer. Because of their small stature – just one or two centimetres wide – "they can get obliterated by vehicles." And as being run over "essentially crushes them," it's harder to collect information on them. At least when mature amphibians are killed, their carcasses can be tallied.

Annual Efforts

Unlike most patrols, one local team, who are in their eighth year of operating, go out throughout the year – not nightly, but when weather are warm and wet, or if a member has reported about a amphibian spotting in their messaging app. When I request to accompany them on patrol, they concede it is "not a toady night" – winter dormancy has begun and it's been a arid period – but several of the volunteers gamely agree to walk up and down their area with me and see what we can find. "Should anyone can locate any toads tonight, that pair 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 barbed wire fence to check under some logs.

Family Involvement

The mother and son joined the group a year and a half ago. The youngster adores all things wildlife and has an goal to become a conservationist, so his mother started to search for activities they could do together to protect local wildlife. Now she enjoys it as much as he does, the 41-year-old small business owner tells me – so when the team was looking for a new manager recently, she decided to step up.

The teenager, too, has played an important role in the group. A clip he made, imploring the municipal authority to block a street through a nature reserve during migration season, swung the decision the team's way. After a twelve months of lobbying, the council approved an "restricted access" restriction between evening and morning from late winter through to April. The majority of motorists duly avoided the route.

Other Wildlife and Difficulties

A few vehicles go past when I'm out on duty and we discover some casualties as a consequence – no toads, but several crushed salamanders. We see one live amphibian as well, and the teenager is especially excited to see a harvestman, which dances in his hands. Yet despite the group's best efforts to let me see a toad, the native community has obviously settled down for the winter. It appears that I couldn't have found any better success anywhere else in the nation – all the rescue teams I reach out to clarify that it's near-impossible at this season.

The group expects to help approximately 10,000 adult toads across the road

One email I receive from another volunteer, who has kindly made the effort to look for toads in a famous site, considered the biggest tracked toad population in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the title: "No toads." However, in February and March, he tells me, the team plans to assist around 10,000 mature amphibians across the road.

Impact and Challenges

What level of impact can these groups actually make? "The fact that volunteers are doing this regularly on chilly, wet and miserable evenings 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 – not least because vehicles is not the only threat.

Additional Threats

The climate crisis has resulted in longer periods of drought, which create the poor environment for some of the animals that toads eat, such as worms and slugs, while warmer ponds have caused an increase of blue-green algae, which can be toxic to toads. Warmer cold seasons also lead toads to emerge from their dormancy more often, interfering with the energy conservation crucial to their existence. Habitat destruction – particularly the loss of large ponds – is another menace.

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 do have an important role in the food chain, consuming pretty much any invertebrates or small animals they can fit in their mouths and in turn sustaining a number of birds and mammals, such as wildlife. Enhancing conditions for toads – ie creating more ponds, conserving woodland and installing amphibian passages – "benefits for a wide range of other species."

Historical Significance

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