Can Britain's Toads Be Saved from Roads and Terrible Decline?

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

An Alarming Decline in Numbers

The common toad is becoming increasingly uncommon. A latest study conducted by an wildlife conservation group showed that the British common toad numbers have almost halved since the mid-1980s. Seeing a species that has been a fixture of the UK landscape in decline is labeled "worrying" by experts. Toads "don't need 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 Danger from Traffic

Though the research didn't cover the reasons for the decline, cars is a major factor. Calculations suggest that 20 tonnes of toads are crushed on British roads annually – in other words, hundreds of thousands. Unlike frogs, which might be content to mate "with just a bucket of water," toads prefer large ponds. Their capacity to stay out of water for longer than frogs allows they can travel further to reach them – sometimes hundreds of metres. They tend to stick to their traditional paths – it's typical for mature amphibians to return to their birth pond to mate.

Breeding Habits

Fittingly, the first toads start their journey for a partner around Valentine's day, but others travel as late as April, waiting until it gets dark and travelling after sunset. During that time, toads start moving from where they have been overwintering "almost simultaneously."

One volunteer, who was raised 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 have an orgy." If their path happens to a road, they could be killed by traffic, and that breeding season would be lost – preventing a new generation of toads from being born.

Rescue Groups Across the UK

Seeing hundreds of toad carcasses on local roads "resonates deeply with people," and has resulted in the formation of toad patrols throughout the UK – hundreds of organizations are currently registered with a countrywide program. These groups pick up toads and transport them across roads in containers, as well as counting the quantity of toads they encounter and advocating for other protection measures, such as blocked roads and amphibian passages.

Patrols tend to operate during the breeding period, when amphibian movements are more regular. However, this means they can miss numbers of toadlets, which, having existed as eggs and then tadpoles, leave their ponds over an unpredictable schedule in late summer. Because of their size – just one or two centimetres wide – "they are destroyed by vehicles." And as being run over "essentially crushes them," it's harder to get data on them. At least when adult toads are killed, their remains can be counted.

Annual Efforts

Unlike many groups, one local team, who are in their eighth season of functioning, go out year-round – not nightly, but whenever weather are warm and wet, or if a member has reported about a amphibian spotting in their messaging app. When I ask to join them on duty, they concede it is "not ideal conditions" – winter dormancy has started and it's been a dry day – but a few of the helpers gamely agree to patrol their area 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 longtime volunteer. We've been out for 120 minutes without a single toad sighting, and now they have scaled a wire barrier to check under some wood.

Family Participation

The family duo became part of the patrol a year and a half ago. The youngster adores all things nature-related and has an ambition to become a environmentalist, so his parent started to search for activities they could do together to protect native animals. Now she enjoys it as much as he does, the middle-aged small business owner tells me – so when the team was seeking a new manager lately, she decided to step up.

The youth, too, has played an important role in the group. A video he created, imploring the municipal authority to block a street through a protected area during migration season, swung the decision the team's way. After a year of lobbying, the council approved an "restricted access" rule between evening and morning from late winter through to spring. Most drivers duly avoided the road.

Other Wildlife and Challenges

A few vehicles go by when I'm out on duty and we find some casualties as a consequence – no amphibians, but three squashed newts. We spot one live amphibian 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 show me a toad, the local population has obviously settled down for the winter. It appears that I wouldn't have had any more luck elsewhere in the nation – all the rescue teams I contact explain that it's very difficult at this time of year.

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

A message I receive from another volunteer, who has kindly made the effort to look for toads in a noted location, considered the biggest tracked toad group in the UK, reaches me with the subject line: "None found." However, in February and March, he informs me, the group expects to help around ten thousand mature amphibians over the street.

Effectiveness and Limitations

What level of impact can these organizations truly achieve? "The reality that people are doing this consistently on cold, damp and unpleasant evenings is quite extraordinary," says an researcher. "This effort 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 traffic is just one danger.

Other Dangers

The global warming has meant longer periods of dry weather, which cause the wrong conditions for some of the creatures that toads eat, such as worms and slugs, while higher water temperatures 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 energy conservation vital to their existence. Loss of environment – particularly the disappearance of big water bodies – is another menace.

Experts are "often concerned about overemphasizing practical benefits on wildlife," but "It's important in just their presence." But toads play an significant part in the food chain, eating pretty much any invertebrates or tiny organisms they can swallow and in turn sustaining a number of birds and mammals, such as wildlife. Enhancing situations for toads – ie building water habitats, protecting forests and constructing amphibian passages – "we'll improve them for a wide range of other species."

Cultural Significance

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