🔗 Share this article

It's a Friday evening at 7:30, but instead of heading to the pub or relaxing at home, I've taken a train to a town in the countryside to join local helpers from a amphibian rescue group. These committed people give up their evenings to protect the native amphibian community.

An Alarming Drop in Population

The common toad is growing more uncommon. A recent research led by an amphibian and reptile charity revealed 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 need very specific conditions" and "should be able to live successfully in the majority of habitats in Britain," so if even they are struggling to persist, "it indicates that the ecosystem is unbalanced."

The UK toad population has almost halved since 1985

The Danger from Traffic

Though the research didn't examine the reasons for the drop, traffic certainly plays a part. Calculations suggest that 20 tons of toads are crushed on British roads every year – in other words, several hundred thousand. In contrast to frogs, which might be happy to mate "if you left out a bucket of water," toads prefer big bodies of water. Their ability to remain away from water for longer than frogs means they can travel further to reach them – sometimes hundreds of metres. They tend to stick to their traditional paths – it's typical for adult toads to return to their birth pond to mate.

Breeding Patterns

Appropriately enough, the first toads begin their quest for a partner around February 14th, but some move as late as April, until it gets dark and moving through the night. During that time, toads start moving from wherever they have been hibernating "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 "They've got just one focus: to go and mate." If their path happens to a road, they could be killed by traffic, and that breeding season would never happen – stopping a new generation of toads from being born.

Toad Patrols Throughout the United Kingdom

Finding hundreds of dead toads on local roads "resonates deeply with people," and has led to the formation of rescue teams across the UK – hundreds of organizations are officially listed with a national initiative. These groups pick up toads and carry them across roads in buckets, as well as recording the number of toads they encounter and lobbying for other safety solutions, such as road closures and amphibian passages.

Volunteers usually work during the migration season, when toad crossings are more regular. However, this means they can overlook numbers of toadlets, which, having been eggs and then tadpoles, leave their ponds over an unpredictable schedule in the end of summer. Because of their size – just a couple of cm wide – "they can get obliterated by car traffic." And as being run over "essentially crushes them," it's more difficult to collect information on them. At least when mature amphibians are killed, their remains can be tallied.

Annual Work

Unlike many groups, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth year of functioning, go out throughout the year – not every night, but whenever conditions are warm and wet, or if someone has posted about a amphibian spotting in their group chat. When I ask to join them on patrol, they admit it is "not a toady night" – winter dormancy has begun and it's been a dry day – but a few of the helpers gamely agree to walk up and down their area with me and search for any toads. "Should anyone can locate any toads tonight, those two will spot one," says the patrol manager, pointing to her teenage child and the longtime volunteer. After for two hours without a single toad sighting, and now they have climbed over a barbed wire fence to inspect beneath some wood.

Family Participation

The family duo became part of the patrol a while back. The teenager adores all things nature-related and has an goal to become a conservationist, so his mother started to search for things they could do together to protect native animals. Now she enjoys it as much as he does, the middle-aged entrepreneur explains – so when the team was looking for a new manager recently, she decided to step up.

The teenager, too, has played an important role in the organization. A clip he made, urging the municipal authority to close a road through a protected area during breeding time, swung the decision the group's way. After a year of lobbying, the authority agreed to an "restricted access" restriction between 5pm and 5am from February through to spring. The majority of motorists respected and avoided the route.

Additional Species and Difficulties

A few cars go past when I'm out on patrol and we discover some casualties as a consequence – no amphibians, but several crushed salamanders. We see one living newt as well, and the youngster is particularly pleased to see a daddy longlegs, which dances in his palms. Yet despite the team's hardest attempts to let me see a toad, the local population has obviously gone dormant for the colder months. It seems that I couldn't have found any more luck anywhere else in the nation – all the patrol groups I contact clarify that it's near-impossible at this time of year.

They project rescuing nearly 10,000 grown amphibians during migration

One email I get from a different helper, who has generously made the effort to check for toads in a famous site, considered the biggest tracked toad group in the UK, reaches me with the title: "None found." However, in late winter, he informs me, the group plans to assist approximately ten thousand adult toads over the street.

Impact and Challenges

What level of impact can these groups actually make? "The reality that people are doing this regularly on cold, damp and unpleasant late nights is quite extraordinary," notes an researcher. "This effort that very much deserves recognition." However, while rescue teams are able to slow the decline, they can't stop it completely – not least because vehicles is not the only threat.

Other Dangers

The global warming has meant longer periods 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 increase of blue-green algae, which can be harmful to toads. Milder winters also cause toads to emerge from their hibernation more often, disrupting the resource preservation crucial to their existence. Loss of environment – particularly the loss of large ponds – is another menace.

Experts are "often concerned about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on biodiversity," but "There is a big value in just having these animals around." But toads do have an important role in the food chain, eating pretty much any small creatures or tiny organisms they can swallow and in turn feeding a variety of predators, such as hedgehogs and otters. Improving situations for toads – ie creating more ponds, protecting forests and constructing amphibian passages – "benefits for a wide range of other species."

Cultural Significance

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