Will the UK's Toads Survive from Traffic and Population Collapse?

It's Friday evening at half past seven, but instead of going out or relaxing at home, I've caught a train to a town in the countryside to join volunteers from a toad patrol. These committed people sacrifice their nights to protect the native amphibian community.

An Alarming Decline in Numbers

The common toad is growing more rare. A recent research conducted by an wildlife conservation group showed that the British common toad numbers have dropped by half since the mid-1980s. Seeing a species that has been a fixture of the British countryside in decrease is labeled "concerning" by experts. Toads "don't need very particular environments" and "ought to live successfully in the majority of areas in the UK," so if even they are not managing to survive, "it kind of suggests that things are not as they should be."

The UK toad population has almost halved since 1985

The Danger from Traffic

Though the research didn't examine the causes for the decline, cars certainly plays a part. Estimates suggest that 20 tons of toads are killed on British roads every year – in other words, several hundred thousand. Unlike frogs, which would probably be content to mate "if you left out a bucket of water," toads prefer big bodies of water. Their capacity to stay out of water for more time than frogs allows they can travel further to find them – sometimes hundreds of metres. They tend to follow their traditional paths – it's common for adult toads to go back to their natal pond to mate.

Migration Patterns

Appropriately enough, the first toads begin their quest for a mate around Valentine's day, but some move as far as April, until it gets dark and moving after sunset. During that time, toads start moving from wherever they have been hibernating "almost simultaneously."

A local helper, who grew up in the area and has been working to save its toad population since he was a child, notes that "They've got just one focus: to go and mate." If their route crosses a road, they could all get run over, and that breeding season would never happen – preventing a new generation of toads from being born.

Rescue Groups Throughout the UK

Finding many of dead toads on local roads "resonates deeply with people," and has led to the formation of toad patrols across the UK – 274 groups are officially listed with a countrywide program. These teams pick up toads and transport them over streets in buckets, 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 migration season, when toad crossings are more regular. However, this means they can overlook numbers of young toads, which, having been spawn and then juveniles, exit their ponds over an unpredictable schedule in the end of summer. Because of their small stature – just a couple of cm wide – "they can get obliterated by car traffic." And as being run over "basically turns them into mush," it's more difficult to collect information on them. At least when adult toads are killed, their carcasses can be counted.

Annual Work

Unlike many groups, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth year of operating, go out year-round – not every night, but when weather are warm and wet, or if a member has posted about a toad sighting 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 search for any toads. "If anyone can find any toads tonight, those two will find one," says the patrol manager, indicating her 14-year-old son and the experienced member. After for two hours without a glimpse of any amphibians, and now they have scaled a barbed wire fence to inspect beneath some wood.

Family Participation

The family duo joined the patrol a while back. The teenager loves all things wildlife and has an goal to become a environmentalist, so his parent started to look for activities they could do jointly to protect local wildlife. Now she loves it as much as he does, the middle-aged entrepreneur explains – so when the team was looking for a new manager recently, she volunteered for the role.

The teenager, too, has been instrumental in the group. A clip he created, urging the municipal authority to close a road through a protected area during breeding time, influenced the outcome the team's way. After a year of lobbying, the authority agreed to an "restricted access" rule between 5pm and 5am from February through to spring. The majority of motorists duly avoided the road.

Additional Species and Difficulties

Several cars go past when I'm out on duty and we discover some victims as a consequence – no amphibians, but three squashed newts. We spot one living newt as well, and the youngster is particularly pleased to see a daddy longlegs, which dances in his hands. Yet despite the group's hardest attempts to let me see a toad, the local population has obviously gone dormant for the colder months. It seems that I couldn't have found any more luck elsewhere in the nation – all the patrol groups I contact explain that it's near-impossible at this season.

They project rescuing nearly 10,000 grown amphibians during migration

A message I get from a different helper, who has kindly taken the trouble to look for toads in a famous site, thought to be the biggest tracked toad population in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the subject line: "None found." However, in February and March, he tells me, the group plans to assist around 10,000 mature amphibians across the road.

Impact and Limitations

What level of impact can these groups actually make? "The fact that people are performing this consistently on cold, damp and unpleasant evenings is quite extraordinary," says an expert. "That's something that very much deserves recognition." However, while rescue teams are able to slow the decline, they cannot prevent it entirely – not least because vehicles is just one danger.

Other Dangers

The global warming has meant extended spells of dry weather, which create 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 blue-green algae, which can be harmful to toads. Milder winters also cause toads to emerge from their hibernation more often, interfering with the energy conservation vital to their existence. Habitat destruction – particularly the disappearance of large ponds – is another menace.

Experts are "often concerned about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on wildlife," but "It's important in just having these animals around." But toads do have an significant part in the food chain, eating pretty much any small creatures or small animals they can fit in their mouths and in turn feeding a variety of predators, such as wildlife. Improving situations for toads – such as building water habitats, conserving woodland and installing amphibian passages – "we'll improve them for a whole bunch of additional wildlife."

Cultural Importance

Another reason to work to preserve toads present is their "historical significance," notes an specialist. Myths and folklore around toads go back {centuries|hundred