🔗 Share this article

It's a Friday night at 7:30, but rather than heading to the pub or relaxing at home, I've caught a train to a market town in the countryside to meet up with local helpers from a toad patrol. These dedicated individuals give up their nights to protect the local toad population.

A Worrying Decline in Numbers

The common toad is becoming increasingly rare. A latest study led by an wildlife conservation group showed that the British common toad numbers have dropped by half since 1985. Seeing a species that has been a stalwart of the UK landscape in decline is described as "worrying" by researchers. Toads "don't need very specific conditions" and "should be able to live quite well in most of habitats in Britain," so if even they are struggling to persist, "it kind of suggests that the ecosystem is unbalanced."

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

The Threat from Traffic

Though the research didn't examine the causes for the drop, traffic is a major factor. Estimates indicate that 20 tons of toads are crushed on UK roads every year – in other words, several hundred thousand. In contrast to frogs, which might be content to mate "if you left out a small container," toads favor large ponds. Their capacity to remain away from water for longer than frogs means they can travel further to reach them – often long distances. They tend to follow their ancestral migration routes – it's typical for adult toads to go back to their natal pond to mate.

Breeding Habits

Appropriately enough, the first toads begin their quest for a partner around Valentine's day, but others travel as late as spring, waiting until it gets dark and travelling after sunset. During that period, toads begin migrating from wherever they have been overwintering "all pretty much at the same time."

A local helper, who was raised in the area and has been working to save its amphibians since he was a child, explains that "Their sole purpose: to go and have an orgy." If their route crosses a road, they could all get run over, and that mating period would be lost – preventing a new generation of toads from being produced.

Toad Patrols Across the UK

Finding many of dead toads on local roads "resonates deeply with people," and has resulted in the creation of toad patrols across the UK – 274 groups are currently registered with a national initiative. These groups pick up toads and transport them across roads in containers, as well as recording the quantity of toads they find and lobbying for other protection measures, such as road closures and amphibian passages.

Patrols tend to operate during the breeding period, when toad crossings are more regular. However, this means they can miss numbers of young toads, which, having been eggs and then tadpoles, leave their water habitats over an irregular timetable in late summer. Because of their size – just a couple of cm wide – "they are destroyed by vehicles." And as being run over "essentially crushes them," it's more difficult to get data on them. At least when adult toads are lost, their remains can be counted.

Annual Efforts

In contrast to many groups, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth season of operating, go out year-round – not nightly, but whenever weather are warm and wet, or if a member has posted about a amphibian spotting in their group chat. When I ask to join them on patrol, they admit it is "not ideal conditions" – toad hibernation season has begun and it's been a dry day – but several of the helpers gamely agree to walk up and down their area with me and see what we can find. "If anyone can find 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 logs.

Community Participation

The family duo joined the group a year and a half ago. The youngster loves all things wildlife and has an ambition to become a environmentalist, so his mother started to search for activities they could do together to protect native animals. Now she loves it as much as he does, the middle-aged small business owner explains – so when the group was looking for a fresh coordinator recently, she volunteered for the role.

The youth, too, has been instrumental in the organization. A video he made, urging the municipal authority to block a road through a protected area during migration season, influenced the outcome the team's way. After a twelve months of lobbying, the authority approved an "access-only" restriction between evening and morning from February through to April. The majority of motorists respected and avoided the route.

Additional Species and Difficulties

Several cars go past when I'm out on duty and we discover some casualties as a result – no toads, but three squashed newts. We see one live amphibian as well, and the youngster is particularly pleased to see a harvestman, which dances in his palms. Yet despite the team's hardest attempts to let me see a toad, the local population has obviously settled down for the winter. It appears that I wouldn't have had any better success elsewhere in the country – all the rescue teams I contact explain that it's near-impossible at this season.

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

One email I get from another volunteer, who has kindly made the effort to check for toads in a noted location, considered the biggest tracked toad group in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the title: "No toads." However, in February and March, he tells me, the group expects to help approximately 10,000 adult toads across the road.

Effectiveness and Challenges

What level of impact can these groups actually make? "The fact that volunteers are doing this consistently on chilly, wet and miserable late nights is quite extraordinary," notes an researcher. "That's something that very much deserves recognition." However, while rescue teams are able to reduce the drop, they cannot prevent it entirely – not least because vehicles is not the only threat.

Additional Threats

The climate crisis has resulted in extended spells of drought, which cause the poor environment for some of the creatures that toads consume, such as worms and slugs, while higher water temperatures have caused an increase of blue-green algae, which can be harmful to toads. Warmer cold seasons also cause toads to emerge from their hibernation more frequently, disrupting the energy conservation crucial to their life cycle. Loss of environment – particularly the disappearance of large ponds – is another menace.

Researchers are "always a bit worried about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on wildlife," but "It's important in just having these animals around." But toads play an important role in the ecosystem, eating almost any small creatures or tiny organisms they can fit in their mouths and in turn sustaining a variety of birds and mammals, such as hedgehogs and otters. Improving conditions for toads – ie building water habitats, conserving woodland and installing toad tunnels – "benefits for a whole bunch of other species."

Historical Importance

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