Will Britain's Common Toads Be Saved from Traffic and Population Collapse?

It is a Friday night at 7:30, but instead of going out or watching a film, I've taken a train to a town in the countryside to meet up with volunteers from a toad patrol. These dedicated individuals sacrifice their nights to protect the local toad population.

An Alarming Drop in Population

The Bufo bufo is becoming increasingly uncommon. A latest study led by an wildlife conservation group showed that the UK toad population have dropped by half since 1985. Observing a species that has been a stalwart of the UK landscape in decline is labeled "concerning" by experts. Toads "don't require very particular environments" 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."

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

The Danger from Traffic

Though the research didn't cover the reasons for the drop, traffic certainly plays a part. Calculations indicate that 20 tons of toads are killed on UK roads annually – that is, several hundred thousand. In contrast to frogs, which might be content to mate "if you left out a bucket of water," toads prefer large ponds. Their capacity to stay out of water for more time than frogs allows they can travel further to reach them – sometimes long distances. They tend to follow their traditional paths – it's typical for mature amphibians to return to their natal pond to mate.

Breeding Patterns

Appropriately enough, the initial amphibians begin their quest for a mate around Valentine's day, but others travel as late as spring, waiting until it gets dark and travelling through the night. During that time, toads start moving from where they have been overwintering "almost simultaneously."

One volunteer, who grew up in the area and has been working to save its amphibians since he was a child, notes that "Their sole purpose: to go and mate." If their route happens to a street, they could all get run over, and that breeding season would be lost – stopping a new generation of toads from being born.

Toad Patrols Across the UK

Finding many of toad carcasses on local roads "resonates deeply with people," and has led to the creation of toad patrols throughout the UK – 274 groups are currently registered with a countrywide program. These teams pick up toads and transport them over streets in containers, as well as recording the quantity of toads they encounter and advocating for other protection measures, such as blocked roads and amphibian passages.

Volunteers usually work during the breeding period, when amphibian movements are more regular. However, this implies they can miss numbers of young toads, which, having been spawn and then tadpoles, leave their water habitats over an irregular timetable in late summer. Because of their small stature – 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 carcasses can be tallied.

Year-Round Efforts

In contrast to many groups, one local team, who are in their eighth season of functioning, go out year-round – not every night, but whenever weather are damp, or if someone has posted 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 dry day – but several of the helpers 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 spot one," says the group coordinator, pointing to her teenage child and the experienced member. We've been out for two hours without a glimpse of any amphibians, and now they have scaled a barbed wire fence to check under some wood.

Family Participation

The family duo joined 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 look for activities they could do together to protect native animals. Now she loves it as much as he does, the 41-year-old small business owner 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 local council to block a street through a nature reserve during migration season, influenced the outcome the team's way. After a year of lobbying, the council agreed to an "restricted access" rule between 5pm and 5am from late winter through to April. The majority of motorists duly avoided the road.

Other Wildlife and Difficulties

Several cars go past when I'm out on patrol and we discover some casualties as a result – no amphibians, but three squashed newts. We spot one live amphibian as well, and the teenager is particularly pleased to see a harvestman, which moves in his hands. Yet despite the team's hardest attempts to let me see a toad, the local population has obviously gone dormant for the winter. It appears that I couldn't have found any more luck anywhere else in the country – all the rescue teams I contact clarify that it's very difficult at this time of year.

They project rescuing nearly 10,000 grown amphibians during migration

One email I receive from another volunteer, who has generously made the effort to check for toads in a famous site, thought to be the biggest tracked toad group in the UK, reaches me with the title: "None found." However, in February and March, he tells me, the group expects to help around 10,000 adult toads across the road.

Impact and Limitations

What level of impact can these organizations truly achieve? "The reality that people are performing this consistently on cold, damp and unpleasant late nights is quite extraordinary," says an expert. "That's something that very much deserves recognition." However, while rescue teams are able to reduce the drop, they can't stop it completely – partly since vehicles is just one danger.

Additional Threats

The climate crisis has meant longer periods of dry weather, which create the wrong conditions for some of the animals that toads eat, such as worms and slugs, while warmer ponds have caused an rise of toxic plants, which can be harmful to toads. Warmer cold seasons also lead toads to emerge from their hibernation more often, disrupting the resource preservation crucial to their life cycle. Habitat destruction – especially the loss of big water bodies – is another menace.

Researchers are "always a bit worried about overemphasizing practical benefits on biodiversity," but "There is a big value in just their presence." But toads play an significant part in the food chain, eating pretty much any invertebrates or small animals they can fit in their mouths and in turn feeding a variety of predators, such as hedgehogs and otters. Improving situations for toads – ie building water habitats, conserving woodland and constructing toad tunnels – "benefits for a wide range of other species."

Cultural Importance

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