🔗 Share this article

It is a Friday evening at 7:30, but instead of heading to the pub or relaxing at home, I've caught a train to a market town in Wiltshire to meet up with volunteers from a amphibian rescue group. These dedicated individuals sacrifice their nights to safeguard the local toad population.

A Worrying Decline in Numbers

The Bufo bufo is growing more uncommon. A latest study led by an wildlife conservation group showed that the British common toad numbers have almost halved since 1985. Observing a species that has been a fixture of the UK landscape in decline is labeled "worrying" by researchers. Toads "don't need very specific conditions" and "ought to live successfully in most of areas in the UK," meaning if even they are not managing to survive, "it indicates that the ecosystem is unbalanced."

Since 1985, Britain's toad numbers have nearly been cut in half

The Threat from Traffic

Though the research didn't examine the causes for the drop, cars is a major factor. Estimates indicate that 20 tons of toads are crushed on UK roads annually – in other words, hundreds of thousands. Unlike frogs, which might be content 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 allows they can journey farther to find 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.

Breeding Habits

Fittingly, the initial amphibians start their journey for a mate around February 14th, but some move as far as April, 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 grew up in the region and has been working to save its toad population since he was a boy, notes that "They've got just one focus: to go and mate." If their route crosses a road, they could be killed by traffic, and that mating period would never happen – preventing a next generation of toads from being produced.

Rescue Groups Throughout the UK

Finding many of dead toads on nearby streets "resonates deeply with people," and has led to the formation of toad patrols throughout the UK – 274 groups are officially listed with a national initiative. These groups pick up toads and transport them over streets in buckets, as well as recording the quantity of toads they encounter and advocating for other safety solutions, such as road closures and underground wildlife tunnels.

Volunteers tend to operate during the migration season, when toad crossings are frequent. However, this implies they can overlook numbers of toadlets, which, having been eggs 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 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 counted.

Annual Efforts

Unlike many groups, one local team, who are in their eighth year of functioning, go out year-round – not nightly, but when weather are warm and wet, or if a member has reported about a toad sighting in their group chat. When I request to accompany them on patrol, they admit it is "not a toady night" – winter dormancy has started and it's been a dry day – but several of the volunteers willingly accept to walk up and down their route with me and see what we can find. "Should anyone can find any toads tonight, that pair will spot one," says the group coordinator, indicating her teenage child 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 logs.

Family Participation

The mother and son became part of the patrol a year and a half ago. The teenager adores all things nature-related and has an ambition to become a environmentalist, so his parent started to search for things they could do together to protect local wildlife. Now she loves 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 youth, too, has played an important role in the group. A video he created, imploring the local council to close a road through a nature reserve during migration season, influenced the outcome the group's way. After a year of campaigning, the council approved an "access-only" rule between 5pm and 5am from February through to spring. The majority of motorists respected and avoided the road.

Additional Species and Difficulties

A few cars go by when I'm out on duty and we find some casualties as a consequence – no amphibians, but several crushed salamanders. 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 hardest attempts to show me a toad, the native community has clearly gone dormant for the colder months. It appears that I couldn't have found any better success elsewhere in the nation – all the rescue teams I reach out to clarify that it's very difficult 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 made the effort to check for toads in a noted location, considered the biggest tracked toad group in the UK, reaches me with the subject line: "None found." However, in late winter, he tells me, the team expects to help around ten thousand mature amphibians across the road.

Effectiveness and Challenges

How much of a difference can these organizations actually make? "The reality that volunteers are performing this regularly on chilly, wet and miserable evenings is quite extraordinary," says an expert. "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.

Additional Threats

The climate crisis has meant extended spells of dry weather, which cause the wrong conditions 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 toxic to toads. Milder winters also lead toads to emerge from their hibernation more frequently, disrupting the energy conservation crucial to their existence. Habitat destruction – particularly the disappearance of large ponds – is another menace.

Researchers are "often concerned about overemphasizing practical benefits on wildlife," but "There is a big value in just their presence." But toads play an significant part in the food chain, eating almost any invertebrates or small animals they can swallow and in turn feeding a number of predators, such as hedgehogs and otters. Enhancing situations for toads – ie building water habitats, protecting forests and installing amphibian passages – "benefits for a wide range of other species."

Historical Significance

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