Will the UK's Common Toads Be Saved from Traffic and Population Collapse?

It's a Friday night at 7:30, but instead of going out or watching a film, I've taken a train to a town in the countryside to meet up with volunteers from a toad patrol. These dedicated individuals sacrifice their nights to safeguard the local toad population.

An Alarming Decline in Numbers

The common toad is becoming increasingly rare. A recent study led by an wildlife conservation group revealed that the UK toad population have almost halved since 1985. Seeing a creature that has been a fixture of the UK landscape in decrease is described as "worrying" by experts. Toads "don't require very particular environments" and "should be able to live quite well in the majority of habitats in Britain," meaning if even they are not managing to survive, "it indicates that the ecosystem is unbalanced."

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

The Danger from Traffic

Though the study didn't cover the causes for the drop, traffic is a major factor. Calculations suggest that 20 tonnes of toads are crushed on UK roads every year – in other words, hundreds of thousands. In contrast to 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 means they can journey farther to reach them – often hundreds of metres. They usually stick to their ancestral migration routes – it's common for adult toads to go back to their birth pond to mate.

Breeding Habits

Fittingly, the first toads begin their quest for a mate around Valentine's day, but others travel as far as April, waiting until it gets dark and travelling after sunset. During that time, toads begin migrating from where they have been hibernating "all pretty much at the same time."

One volunteer, who grew up in the region and has been working to save its amphibians since he was a boy, notes that "They've got just one focus: to go and have an orgy." If their route happens to a street, they could all get run over, and that breeding season would never happen – preventing a next generation of toads from being produced.

Toad Patrols Throughout the United Kingdom

Finding many of toad carcasses on nearby streets "resonates deeply with people," and has resulted in the formation of toad patrols throughout the UK – 274 groups are currently registered with a national initiative. These groups pick up toads and carry them across roads in buckets, as well as counting the number of toads they find and advocating for other protection measures, such as road closures and underground wildlife tunnels.

Volunteers tend to operate during the migration season, when amphibian movements are frequent. However, this implies they can miss numbers of young toads, which, having been spawn and then tadpoles, leave their water habitats over an irregular timetable in the end of 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 harder to get data on them. At least when adult toads are killed, their remains can be tallied.

Annual Work

In contrast to most patrols, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth season of operating, go out year-round – not every night, but when 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 a toady night" – toad hibernation season has begun and it's been a arid period – but several of the helpers gamely agree to walk up and down their route with me and see what we can find. "If anyone can locate any toads tonight, that pair will find one," says the patrol manager, pointing to her teenage child and the experienced member. We've been out for two hours without a single toad sighting, and now they have scaled a wire barrier to inspect beneath some logs.

Community Participation

The mother and son became part of the patrol a year and a half ago. The teenager adores all things nature-related and has an ambition to become a environmentalist, so his mother started to search for activities they could do jointly to protect native animals. Now she loves it as much as he does, the 41-year-old small business owner explains – so when the team was looking for a new manager lately, she decided to step up.

The youth, too, has been instrumental in the organization. A video he made, urging the local council to block a street through a nature reserve during breeding time, influenced the outcome the team's way. After a twelve months of lobbying, the council agreed to an "restricted access" rule between evening and morning from February through to spring. The majority of motorists respected and avoided the route.

Other Wildlife and Challenges

Several vehicles go past when I'm out on patrol and we find some victims as a consequence – no toads, but several crushed salamanders. We spot one live amphibian 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 let me see a toad, the native community has obviously gone dormant for the colder months. It appears that I couldn't have found any more luck anywhere else in the country – all the patrol groups I reach out to explain that it's very difficult at this season.

They project rescuing nearly 10,000 grown amphibians during migration

One email I receive from a different helper, who has generously taken the trouble to look for toads in a noted location, thought to be the biggest tracked toad population in the UK, reaches me with the title: "None found." However, in February and March, he tells me, the team expects to help approximately ten thousand mature amphibians over the street.

Effectiveness and Limitations

What level of impact can these groups actually make? "The reality that people are doing this regularly on cold, damp and unpleasant evenings is remarkable," notes an expert. "That's something that very much deserves recognition." However, while toad patrols are able to reduce the drop, they cannot prevent it entirely – not least because traffic is just one danger.

Additional Threats

The climate crisis has meant extended spells of drought, which cause the poor environment for some of the creatures that toads consume, such as invertebrates, while higher water temperatures have led to an increase of toxic plants, which can be toxic to toads. Milder winters also cause toads to wake up from their hibernation more often, interfering with the energy conservation vital to their existence. Habitat destruction – particularly the loss of big water bodies – is another menace.

Experts are "often concerned about overemphasizing practical benefits on wildlife," however "There is a big value in just their presence." But toads do have an important role in the food chain, consuming pretty much any invertebrates or small animals they can swallow and in turn feeding a number of birds and mammals, such as wildlife. Improving situations for toads – such as building water habitats, protecting forests and constructing toad tunnels – "benefits for a wide range of additional wildlife."

Historical Importance

An additional motive to work to preserve toads present is their "historical significance," notes an expert. Legends and tales around toads go back {centuries|hundred