Can the UK's Common Toads Be Saved from Traffic and Terrible Decline?

It's Friday night at 7:30, but instead of going out or watching a film, I've caught a train to a market town in Wiltshire to join volunteers from a toad patrol. These committed people give up their evenings to safeguard the native amphibian community.

A Worrying Drop in Numbers

The common toad is becoming increasingly uncommon. A latest research led by an wildlife conservation group revealed that the UK toad population have dropped by half since the mid-1980s. Observing a species that has been a stalwart of the British countryside in decrease is described as "concerning" by researchers. Toads "don't need very particular environments" and "should be able to live successfully in the majority of areas in Britain," so if even they are struggling to persist, "it indicates that the ecosystem is unbalanced."

Toad populations across the UK have declined by almost 50% since the 1980s

The Threat from Traffic

Though the research didn't examine the causes for the decline, cars is a major factor. Estimates suggest that 20 tonnes of toads are killed on UK roads every year – that is, several hundred thousand. Unlike frogs, which might be content to mate "if you left out a bucket of water," toads prefer large ponds. Their ability to remain away from water for longer than frogs means they can travel further to reach them – often long distances. They tend to stick to their traditional paths – it's typical for mature amphibians to go back to their birth pond to mate.

Migration Patterns

Fittingly, the first toads start their journey for a partner around February 14th, but others travel as late as spring, waiting until it gets dark and travelling after sunset. During that period, toads start moving from where they have been hibernating "all pretty much at the same time."

A local helper, who was raised in the area and has been trying to protect its amphibians since he was a boy, explains that "Their sole purpose: to go and mate." If their route crosses a road, they could be killed by traffic, and that mating period would be lost – preventing a new generation of toads from being produced.

Toad Patrols Throughout the United Kingdom

Seeing hundreds of dead toads on local roads "resonates deeply with people," and has led to the creation of toad patrols across the UK – 274 groups are officially listed with a national initiative. These teams pick up toads and transport them over streets in containers, as well as recording the number of toads they encounter and lobbying for other safety solutions, such as blocked roads and amphibian passages.

Volunteers tend to operate during the migration season, when toad crossings are frequent. However, this implies they can miss groups of young toads, which, having existed as spawn and then tadpoles, exit their ponds over an irregular timetable in late summer. Because of their small stature – just one or two centimetres wide – "they are destroyed by vehicles." And as being hit "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

Unlike most patrols, one local team, who are in their eighth season of operating, go out throughout the year – not every night, but whenever conditions are damp, or if a member has reported about a toad sighting in their messaging app. When I ask to join them on patrol, they concede it is "not ideal conditions" – toad hibernation season has started and it's been a dry day – but a few of the volunteers gamely agree to walk up and down their area with me and see what we can find. "Should anyone can find 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 wood.

Family Involvement

The mother and son became part of the patrol a while back. The teenager adores 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 local wildlife. Now she enjoys it as much as he does, the 41-year-old small business owner explains – so when the group was seeking a new manager recently, she volunteered for the role.

The teenager, too, has played an important role in the organization. A video he made, imploring the local council to block a street through a nature reserve during breeding time, swung the decision the group's way. After a year of lobbying, the authority approved an "access-only" restriction between 5pm and 5am from late winter through to April. Most drivers duly avoided the route.

Additional Species and Difficulties

Several vehicles go by when I'm out on duty and we discover some victims as a result – no toads, 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 let me see a toad, the native community 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 reach out to clarify that it's very difficult at this season.

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

One email I receive from another volunteer, who has generously made the effort to look for toads in a famous site, considered the biggest tracked toad group in the UK, reaches me with the subject line: "No toads." However, in late winter, he tells me, the group plans to assist approximately 10,000 mature amphibians across the road.

Impact and Limitations

How much of a difference can these groups truly achieve? "The fact that people are performing this regularly on chilly, wet and miserable late nights is remarkable," says an expert. "This effort that very much should be celebrated." However, while toad patrols are able to reduce the drop, they cannot prevent it entirely – not least because vehicles is just one danger.

Additional Threats

The global warming has meant extended spells 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 rise of toxic plants, which can be toxic to toads. Milder winters also cause 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 "always a bit worried about overemphasizing practical benefits on biodiversity," however "It's important in just their presence." But toads play an important role in the ecosystem, eating almost any small creatures or tiny organisms they can fit in their mouths and in turn feeding a number of birds and mammals, such as wildlife. Improving conditions for toads – ie building water habitats, protecting forests and constructing amphibian passages – "we'll improve them for a wide range of other species."

Cultural Importance

Another reason to try to keep toads around is their "historical significance," notes an expert. Myths and folklore around toads go back {centuries|hundred