🔗 Share this article

It's Friday night at half past seven, but instead of going out or watching a film, I've caught a train to a town in Wiltshire to meet up with local helpers from a amphibian rescue group. These committed people give up their evenings to protect the native amphibian community.

An Alarming Drop in Numbers

The common toad is growing more uncommon. A latest study led by an wildlife conservation group revealed that the British common toad numbers have almost halved since the mid-1980s. Observing a creature that has been a fixture of the British countryside in decline is described as "concerning" by experts. Toads "don't require very particular environments" and "should be able to live quite well in the majority of areas in the UK," so if even they are not managing to survive, "it indicates 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 examine the causes for the decline, traffic is a major factor. Calculations suggest that 20 tons of toads are killed on British roads annually – that is, hundreds of thousands. Unlike frogs, which would probably be happy to mate "with just a small container," toads prefer big bodies of water. Their ability to remain away from water for longer than frogs allows they can travel further to reach them – often long distances. They usually follow their ancestral migration routes – it's typical for mature amphibians to go back to their natal pond to mate.

Migration Habits

Fittingly, the initial amphibians start their journey for a partner around February 14th, but others travel as late as spring, waiting until it gets dark and travelling through the night. During that time, toads start moving from wherever they have been overwintering "all pretty much at the same time."

A local helper, 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 mate." If their route crosses a street, they could be killed by traffic, and that breeding season would never happen – stopping a next generation of toads from being born.

Toad Patrols Throughout the UK

Seeing many of dead toads on nearby streets "resonates deeply with people," and has led to the creation of rescue teams across the UK – hundreds of organizations are officially listed with a national initiative. These teams collect toads and transport them over streets in containers, as well as counting the quantity of toads they find and advocating for other safety solutions, such as road closures and underground wildlife tunnels.

Volunteers usually work during the breeding period, when amphibian movements are frequent. However, this implies they can miss numbers of young toads, which, having existed as 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 vehicles." And as being run over "basically turns them into mush," it's more difficult to get data on them. At least when mature amphibians are killed, their carcasses 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 conditions are damp, or if a member has posted about a amphibian spotting in their group chat. When I ask to join them on duty, they admit it is "not ideal conditions" – toad hibernation season has started and it's been a arid period – but a few of the volunteers willingly accept to patrol their area with me and see what we can find. "Should anyone can find any toads tonight, that pair will spot one," says the patrol manager, indicating her 14-year-old son and the experienced member. We've been out for 120 minutes without a single toad sighting, and now they have climbed over a wire barrier to inspect beneath some logs.

Family Involvement

The family duo became part of the group a year and a half ago. The youngster loves all things nature-related and has an ambition to become a environmentalist, so his mother started to search for things they could do together to help native animals. Now she loves it as much as he does, the middle-aged small business owner tells me – so when the team was looking for a new manager lately, she volunteered for the role.

The youth, too, has played an important role in the organization. A video he created, imploring the local council 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 evening and morning from late winter through to spring. Most drivers duly avoided the route.

Other Wildlife and Challenges

Several cars go by when I'm out on patrol and we discover some victims as a result – no toads, but three squashed newts. We spot one live amphibian as well, and the youngster is particularly pleased to see a harvestman, which moves in his hands. Yet in spite of the group's best efforts to show me a toad, the local population has obviously gone dormant for the winter. It appears that I wouldn't have had any better success anywhere else in the country – all the patrol groups I contact explain that it's near-impossible at this time of year.

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

One email I receive from a different helper, who has kindly made the effort to look for toads in a famous site, considered the largest accurately monitored toad group in the UK, reaches me with the title: "None found." However, in February and March, he informs me, the team expects to help around ten thousand mature amphibians over the street.

Impact and Limitations

How much of a difference can these organizations truly achieve? "The reality that volunteers are doing this regularly on chilly, wet and miserable late nights is quite extraordinary," notes an expert. "That's something that very much should be celebrated." However, while toad patrols are able to slow the decline, they can't stop it completely – not least because vehicles is just one danger.

Other Dangers

The climate crisis has resulted in 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 led to an rise of toxic plants, which can be harmful to toads. Warmer cold seasons also lead toads to wake up from their hibernation more frequently, disrupting the resource preservation crucial to their life cycle. Loss of environment – especially the loss of large ponds – is an additional threat.

Experts are "often concerned about overemphasizing practical benefits on biodiversity," but "There is a big value in just their presence." But toads play an significant part in the ecosystem, consuming pretty much any small creatures or tiny organisms they can swallow and in turn sustaining a number of predators, such as wildlife. Enhancing conditions for toads – ie creating more ponds, conserving woodland and installing amphibian passages – "we'll improve them for a wide range of additional wildlife."

Historical 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