🔗 Share this article

It is Friday evening at half past seven, but rather than going out or relaxing at home, I've caught a train to a town in Wiltshire to join volunteers from a amphibian rescue group. These dedicated individuals give up their nights to protect the native amphibian community.

An Alarming Drop in Population

The common toad is becoming increasingly uncommon. A recent study led by an wildlife conservation group showed that the British common toad numbers have dropped by half since the mid-1980s. Observing a creature that has been a fixture of the British countryside in decrease is labeled "worrying" by experts. Toads "don't require very specific conditions" and "should be able to live quite well in the majority of habitats in Britain," meaning if even they are struggling to persist, "it indicates that the ecosystem is unbalanced."

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

The Danger from Roads

Though the study didn't examine the causes for the drop, traffic certainly plays a part. Estimates indicate that 20 tonnes of toads are killed on British roads every year – that is, several hundred thousand. In contrast to frogs, which would probably be happy to mate "if you left out a bucket of water," toads favor big bodies of water. Their ability to stay out of water for more time than frogs allows they can journey farther to find them – often hundreds of metres. They tend to follow their traditional paths – it's typical for adult toads to return to their birth pond to mate.

Migration Habits

Appropriately enough, the initial amphibians start their journey for a partner around Valentine's day, but some move as late as April, waiting until it gets night and travelling after sunset. During that time, toads start moving from where they have been hibernating "almost simultaneously."

One volunteer, who was raised in the area and has been working to save its toad population since he was a boy, explains that "Their sole purpose: to go and mate." If their route happens to a street, they could be killed by traffic, and that breeding season would be lost – preventing a next generation of toads from being produced.

Rescue Groups Throughout the UK

Finding hundreds of toad carcasses on nearby streets "resonates deeply with people," and has led to the creation of toad patrols across the UK – 274 groups are officially listed with a countrywide program. These groups collect toads and carry them over streets in containers, as well as recording the number of toads they find and lobbying for other protection measures, 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 groups of young toads, which, having been spawn and then juveniles, exit their water habitats over an unpredictable schedule 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 collect information on them. At least when adult toads are lost, their carcasses can be counted.

Annual Efforts

Unlike many groups, one local team, who are in their eighth year of functioning, go out throughout the year – not every night, but whenever weather are damp, or if a member has posted about a toad sighting in their messaging app. When I request to accompany them on patrol, they concede it is "not ideal conditions" – winter dormancy has begun and it's been a dry day – but several of the volunteers gamely agree to walk up and down their area with me and see what we can find. "If anyone can locate any toads tonight, those two will spot one," says the group coordinator, indicating her 14-year-old son and the longtime volunteer. We've been out for two hours without a glimpse of any amphibians, and now they have climbed over a wire barrier to inspect beneath some logs.

Community Participation

The family duo joined the group a while back. The teenager adores all things nature-related and has an ambition to become a environmentalist, so his parent started to search for things they could do together to help local wildlife. Now she loves it as much as he does, the middle-aged entrepreneur tells me – so when the team was seeking a fresh coordinator recently, she decided to step up.

The teenager, too, has played an important role in the organization. A clip he made, imploring the municipal authority to block a street through a protected area during migration season, influenced the outcome the group's way. After a year of lobbying, the authority agreed to an "access-only" rule between 5pm and 5am from late winter through to April. The majority of motorists respected and avoided the road.

Other Wildlife and Challenges

A few cars go past when I'm out on duty and we find some victims as a consequence – no toads, but three squashed newts. We see one living newt as well, and the youngster is particularly pleased to see a daddy longlegs, which dances in his hands. Yet in spite of the team's best efforts to show me a toad, the local population has clearly gone dormant for the winter. It appears that I couldn't have found any more luck elsewhere in the country – all the rescue teams I reach out to clarify that it's near-impossible at this time of year.

They project rescuing nearly 10,000 grown amphibians during migration

One email I receive from another volunteer, who has kindly made the effort to check for toads in a famous site, considered the biggest tracked toad population in the UK, reaches me with the title: "None found." However, in February and March, he tells me, the group plans to assist around ten thousand mature amphibians across the road.

Impact and Limitations

What level of impact can these groups truly achieve? "The fact that volunteers are doing this regularly on chilly, wet and miserable late nights is remarkable," says an expert. "That's something that very much should be celebrated." However, while toad patrols are able to reduce the drop, they can't stop it completely – partly since vehicles is not the only threat.

Additional Threats

The global warming has meant longer periods of drought, which cause the wrong conditions for some of the creatures 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 lead toads to emerge from their hibernation more frequently, disrupting the resource preservation crucial to their life cycle. Habitat destruction – particularly the loss of large ponds – is an additional threat.

Researchers 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 food chain, consuming pretty much any invertebrates or small animals they can fit in their mouths and in turn sustaining a variety of predators, such as wildlife. Enhancing situations for toads – ie building water habitats, protecting forests and constructing toad tunnels – "benefits for a whole bunch of additional wildlife."

Historical Importance

An additional motive to try to keep toads around is their "historical significance," notes an expert. Myths and folklore around toads date back {centuries|hundred