🔗 Share this article

It is a Friday evening at half past seven, but rather than going out or watching a film, I've caught a train to a town in Wiltshire to join local helpers from a toad patrol. These dedicated individuals sacrifice their nights to safeguard the local toad population.

An Alarming Drop in Population

The Bufo bufo is growing more uncommon. A latest research conducted by an wildlife conservation group revealed that the British common toad numbers have dropped by half since 1985. Seeing a creature that has been a stalwart of the UK landscape in decrease is described as "worrying" by experts. Toads "don't need very specific conditions" and "should be able to live quite well in most of areas in Britain," so if even they are not managing to survive, "it kind of suggests 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 cover the causes for the drop, cars certainly plays a part. Calculations suggest that 20 tonnes of toads are crushed on British roads annually – in other words, hundreds of thousands. Unlike frogs, which would probably be content to mate "if you left out a small container," toads prefer large ponds. Their ability to remain away from water for longer than frogs means they can journey farther to find them – sometimes hundreds of metres. They tend to stick to their ancestral migration routes – it's common for mature amphibians to return to their birth pond to mate.

Breeding Patterns

Appropriately enough, the first toads begin their quest for a partner 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 wherever they have been overwintering "all pretty much at the same time."

One volunteer, who grew up in the area and has been working to save its amphibians since he was a boy, explains that "They've got just one focus: to go and have an orgy." If their route happens to a street, they could be killed by traffic, and that breeding season would never happen – preventing a new generation of toads from being born.

Toad Patrols Across the United Kingdom

Seeing hundreds of dead toads on local roads "inherently strikes a chord with people," and has resulted in the creation of rescue teams throughout the UK – hundreds of organizations are officially listed with a national initiative. These groups pick up toads and transport them over streets in containers, as well as counting the number of toads they encounter and advocating for other protection measures, such as blocked roads and underground wildlife tunnels.

Patrols usually work during the breeding period, when amphibian movements are more regular. However, this means they can overlook numbers of toadlets, which, having been eggs and then tadpoles, exit their ponds over an unpredictable schedule 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 harder to get data on them. At least when adult toads are lost, their remains can be counted.

Annual Work

Unlike most patrols, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth year of functioning, go out throughout the year – not nightly, but whenever weather are damp, or if a member has reported about a toad sighting in their group chat. When I request to accompany them on duty, they admit it is "not a toady night" – toad hibernation season has started and it's been a arid period – but several of the volunteers willingly accept to walk up and down their area with me and see what we can find. "Should anyone can locate any toads tonight, those two 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 wood.

Community Involvement

The family duo became part of the patrol a year and a half ago. The teenager loves all things wildlife and has an ambition to become a environmentalist, so his mother started to look for activities they could do together to protect native animals. Now she loves it as much as he does, the middle-aged entrepreneur explains – so when the team was seeking a new manager recently, she decided to step up.

The youth, too, has played an important role in the group. A clip he made, imploring the municipal authority to block a road through a protected area during migration season, influenced the outcome the team's way. After a twelve months of campaigning, the council approved an "access-only" rule between 5pm and 5am from late winter through to spring. The majority of motorists duly avoided the road.

Other Wildlife and Difficulties

A few vehicles go by when I'm out on duty and we discover some casualties as a consequence – no amphibians, but three squashed newts. We see one live amphibian as well, and the teenager is particularly pleased to see a daddy longlegs, which moves in his palms. Yet in spite of the group's best efforts to show me a toad, the local population has clearly settled down for the colder months. It appears that I wouldn't have had any better success anywhere else in the nation – all the patrol groups I contact explain that it's very difficult at this season.

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

A message I get from another volunteer, who has kindly taken the trouble to look for toads in a noted location, considered the largest accurately monitored toad group in the UK, reaches me with the subject line: "No toads." However, in late winter, he tells me, the group expects to help around ten thousand adult toads across the road.

Effectiveness and Challenges

How much of a difference can these groups actually make? "The fact that volunteers are doing this regularly on chilly, wet and miserable evenings is quite extraordinary," notes an expert. "This effort that very much should be celebrated." However, while toad patrols are able to slow the decline, they can't stop it completely – partly since traffic is not the only threat.

Additional Threats

The global warming has meant longer periods of dry weather, which create the poor environment for some of the animals that toads eat, such as invertebrates, while warmer ponds have caused an rise of blue-green algae, which can be toxic to toads. Milder winters also lead toads to wake up from their hibernation more often, disrupting the resource preservation vital to their life cycle. Habitat destruction – particularly the disappearance of big water bodies – is an additional threat.

Experts are "often concerned about overemphasizing practical benefits on biodiversity," but "It's important 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 variety of predators, such as hedgehogs and otters. Improving conditions for toads – such as building water habitats, conserving woodland and installing amphibian passages – "benefits for a whole bunch of other species."

Cultural Significance

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