🔗 Share this article

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 Wiltshire to meet up with local helpers from a toad patrol. These committed people give up their nights to safeguard the local toad population.

An Alarming Drop in Numbers

The Bufo bufo is becoming increasingly uncommon. A recent study led by an wildlife conservation group showed that the UK toad population have dropped by half since 1985. Observing a creature that has been a stalwart of the UK landscape in decline is labeled "worrying" by researchers. Toads "don't need very specific conditions" and "ought to live quite well in the majority of areas in the UK," meaning 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 Danger from Traffic

Though the research didn't cover the reasons for the decline, traffic is a major factor. Estimates suggest that 20 tons of toads are crushed on British roads every year – that is, hundreds of thousands. Unlike frogs, which might be happy to mate "with just a bucket of water," toads prefer big bodies of water. Their ability to remain away from water for more time than frogs means they can travel further to reach them – often long distances. They usually stick to their traditional paths – it's common for mature amphibians to return to their natal pond to mate.

Migration Habits

Fittingly, the first toads begin their quest for a mate around Valentine's day, but some move as late as spring, waiting until it gets night and moving after sunset. During that period, toads begin migrating from wherever they have been overwintering "almost simultaneously."

One volunteer, who grew up in the region and has been working to save its amphibians since he was a child, notes that "Their sole purpose: to go and have an orgy." If their path crosses a street, they could all get run over, and that mating period would be lost – preventing a new generation of toads from being produced.

Rescue Groups Throughout the UK

Finding many of toad carcasses 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 countrywide program. These teams collect toads and carry them across roads in buckets, as well as counting the number of toads they encounter and lobbying for other safety solutions, such as blocked roads and underground wildlife tunnels.

Volunteers tend to operate during the breeding period, when amphibian movements are frequent. However, this implies they can overlook numbers of young toads, which, having been spawn and then tadpoles, exit their ponds over an irregular timetable in the end of summer. Because of their size – just a couple of cm wide – "they are destroyed by car traffic." And as being run over "essentially crushes them," it's harder to collect information on them. At least when mature amphibians are killed, their remains can be counted.

Year-Round Efforts

In contrast to most patrols, one local team, who are in their eighth season of functioning, go out throughout the year – not every night, but whenever conditions are damp, or if a member has reported about a amphibian spotting in their group chat. When I ask to join them on patrol, they admit it is "not ideal conditions" – toad hibernation season has begun and it's been a arid period – but a few of the volunteers willingly accept to walk up and down their route with me and see what we can find. "If anyone can find any toads tonight, those two will find one," says the group coordinator, indicating her 14-year-old son and the experienced member. We've been out for two hours without a single toad sighting, and now they have scaled a barbed wire fence to check under some logs.

Family Involvement

The mother and son joined the patrol a year and a half ago. The youngster loves all things wildlife and has an ambition to become a conservationist, so his parent started to search for things they could do together to help local wildlife. Now she enjoys 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 been instrumental in the group. A clip he made, urging the local council to block a street through a protected area during migration season, swung the decision the group's way. After a twelve months of campaigning, the authority agreed to an "restricted access" rule between evening and morning from late winter through to April. Most drivers respected and avoided the route.

Other Wildlife and Difficulties

Several cars go by when I'm out on duty and we find some casualties as a consequence – no toads, but several crushed salamanders. We spot one living newt as well, and the teenager is particularly pleased to see a daddy longlegs, which dances in his hands. Yet in spite of the team's hardest attempts to show me a toad, the local population has obviously settled down for the winter. It appears that I couldn't have found any better success elsewhere in the country – all the patrol groups I contact clarify that it's very difficult at this season.

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

One email I receive from a different helper, who has generously 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: "None found." However, in late winter, he tells me, the group expects to help approximately ten thousand mature amphibians over the street.

Impact and Limitations

How much of a difference can these groups truly achieve? "The fact that volunteers are doing this regularly on cold, damp and unpleasant evenings is quite extraordinary," says an expert. "This effort that very much deserves recognition." However, while toad patrols are able to slow the decline, they can't stop it completely – partly since traffic is just one danger.

Other Dangers

The global warming has resulted in longer periods of dry weather, which cause the poor environment for some of the creatures that toads eat, such as worms and slugs, while warmer ponds have led to an increase of toxic plants, which can be harmful to toads. Warmer cold seasons also lead toads to emerge from their dormancy more frequently, interfering with the energy conservation vital to their existence. Loss of environment – particularly the disappearance of large ponds – is an additional threat.

Researchers are "often concerned about overemphasizing practical benefits on wildlife," however "It's important in just having these animals around." But toads do have an important role in the ecosystem, eating pretty much any small creatures or tiny organisms they can fit in their mouths and in turn sustaining a number of predators, such as hedgehogs and otters. Enhancing situations for toads – ie building water habitats, conserving woodland and constructing toad tunnels – "we'll improve them for a whole bunch of other species."

Historical Significance

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