🔗 Share this article

It's Friday night at half past seven, but rather than going out or relaxing at home, I've caught a train to a market town in Wiltshire to meet up with local helpers from a amphibian rescue group. These dedicated individuals give up their evenings to safeguard the native amphibian community.

An Alarming Drop in Numbers

The common toad is becoming increasingly rare. A latest study led by an amphibian and reptile charity showed that the UK toad population have almost halved since the mid-1980s. Observing a species that has been a stalwart of the UK landscape in decline is described as "worrying" by researchers. Toads "don't require very particular environments" and "ought to live successfully in the majority of habitats in Britain," meaning if even they are struggling to persist, "it kind of suggests that things are not as they should be."

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

The Danger from Roads

Though the study didn't examine the causes for the decline, cars is a major factor. Estimates indicate that 20 tons of toads are crushed on British roads annually – in other words, several hundred thousand. In contrast to frogs, which would probably be content to mate "with just a bucket of water," toads prefer big bodies of water. Their capacity to stay out of water for more time than frogs means they can travel further to reach them – often hundreds of metres. They usually follow their ancestral migration routes – it's typical for mature amphibians to go back to their birth pond to mate.

Migration Habits

Fittingly, the initial amphibians start their journey for a mate around Valentine's day, but some move as far as spring, waiting until it gets night and moving through the night. During that period, toads begin migrating from wherever they have been hibernating "almost simultaneously."

One volunteer, who grew up in the area and has been trying to protect its amphibians since he was a boy, notes that "They've got just one focus: to go and have an orgy." If their path crosses a road, they could be killed by traffic, and that mating period would never happen – stopping a new generation of toads from being born.

Rescue Groups Across the UK

Finding many of toad carcasses on local roads "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 groups pick up toads and transport them over streets in containers, as well as counting the number of toads they find and advocating for other safety solutions, such as blocked roads and amphibian passages.

Volunteers tend to operate during the breeding period, when amphibian movements are more regular. However, this implies they can overlook numbers of young toads, which, having existed as eggs and then juveniles, exit their ponds 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 run over "essentially crushes them," it's more difficult to get data on them. At least when mature amphibians are killed, their remains can be counted.

Year-Round Efforts

Unlike most patrols, one local team, 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 amphibian spotting in their messaging app. When I request to accompany them on duty, they admit it is "not ideal conditions" – toad hibernation season has started and it's been a dry day – but a few of the volunteers gamely agree to patrol their route with me and search for any toads. "If anyone can locate any toads tonight, those two will find one," says the group coordinator, indicating her teenage child and the longtime volunteer. After for two hours without a glimpse of any amphibians, and now they have climbed over a barbed wire fence to check under some wood.

Community Involvement

The family duo joined the patrol a year and a half ago. The youngster adores all things nature-related and has an goal to become a conservationist, so his parent started to look for things they could do jointly to protect native animals. Now she loves it as much as he does, the middle-aged entrepreneur explains – so when the team was seeking a new manager lately, she decided to step up.

The teenager, too, has been instrumental in the group. A video he created, imploring the municipal authority to close a street through a nature reserve during migration season, swung the decision the group's way. After a twelve months of lobbying, the council agreed to an "restricted access" rule between 5pm and 5am from late winter through to April. Most drivers duly avoided the road.

Other Wildlife and Difficulties

Several cars go past when I'm out on patrol and we find some casualties as a consequence – no toads, but several crushed salamanders. We spot one living newt 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 let me see a toad, the native community has clearly settled down for the colder months. 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 near-impossible at this time of year.

They project rescuing nearly 10,000 grown amphibians during migration

One email I get from a different helper, who has kindly made the effort to look for toads in a noted location, thought to be the biggest tracked toad group in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the title: "None found." However, in February and March, he tells me, the group expects to help around 10,000 adult toads across the road.

Impact and Challenges

What level of impact can these groups truly achieve? "The fact that people are performing this consistently on chilly, wet and miserable evenings is remarkable," notes an researcher. "This effort that very much should be celebrated." However, while rescue teams are able to reduce the drop, they can't stop it completely – not least because vehicles is just one danger.

Additional Threats

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 invertebrates, while higher water temperatures have caused an rise of blue-green algae, which can be harmful to toads. Warmer cold seasons also cause toads to wake up from their dormancy more frequently, disrupting the energy conservation vital to their life cycle. Habitat destruction – especially the disappearance of large ponds – is another menace.

Experts are "always a bit worried about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on biodiversity," however "There is a big value in just having these animals around." But toads do have an significant part in the ecosystem, consuming almost any small creatures or tiny organisms they can fit in their mouths and in turn feeding a number of birds and mammals, such as wildlife. Improving situations for toads – ie creating more ponds, conserving woodland and constructing toad tunnels – "we'll improve them for a whole bunch of additional wildlife."

Cultural Importance

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