🔗 Share this article

It's a Friday night at half past seven, but rather than going out or watching a film, I've taken a train to a market town in Wiltshire to meet up with volunteers from a amphibian rescue group. These committed people give up their evenings to protect the local toad population.

An Alarming Drop in Population

The Bufo bufo is growing more rare. A latest research conducted by an amphibian and reptile charity showed that the UK toad population have dropped by half since 1985. Observing a species that has been a fixture of the British countryside in decline is described as "concerning" by researchers. Toads "don't need very particular environments" and "ought to live quite well in most of habitats in Britain," meaning 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 Threat from Traffic

Though the study didn't cover the reasons for the drop, cars is a major factor. Calculations suggest that 20 tons of toads are crushed on British roads annually – that is, hundreds of thousands. Unlike frogs, which might be content to mate "with just a bucket of water," toads prefer large ponds. Their ability to stay out of water for longer than frogs allows they can journey farther to reach them – often long distances. They usually follow their traditional paths – it's common for adult toads to return to their natal pond to mate.

Migration Habits

Appropriately enough, the first toads start their journey for a partner around February 14th, but others travel as late as April, until it gets dark and moving after sunset. During that period, toads start moving from wherever they have been hibernating "all pretty much at the same time."

One volunteer, who was raised in the region and has been trying to protect its toad population since he was a child, notes that "Their sole purpose: to go and have an orgy." If their path crosses a street, they could all get run over, and that mating period would be lost – stopping a next generation of toads from being produced.

Toad Patrols Throughout the UK

Finding hundreds of dead toads on local roads "inherently strikes a chord with people," and has led to the creation of toad patrols across the UK – hundreds of organizations are officially listed with a national initiative. These teams pick up toads and carry them over streets in containers, as well as recording the quantity of toads they find and lobbying for other protection measures, such as road closures and underground wildlife tunnels.

Patrols tend to operate during the migration season, when amphibian movements are more regular. However, this implies they can overlook groups of young toads, which, having existed as eggs and then juveniles, leave their water habitats over an irregular timetable in late summer. Because of their small stature – just one or two centimetres wide – "they are destroyed by vehicles." 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 remains can be tallied.

Annual Work

Unlike most patrols, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth season of operating, go out throughout the year – not nightly, but whenever conditions are damp, or if someone has reported about a toad sighting in their group chat. When I request to accompany them on duty, they admit it is "not a toady night" – toad hibernation season has begun and it's been a arid period – but several of the volunteers 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 group coordinator, pointing to her teenage child and the experienced member. We've been out for 120 minutes without a glimpse of any amphibians, and now they have climbed over a wire barrier to inspect beneath some wood.

Family Participation

The family duo became part of the group a while back. The youngster adores all things nature-related and has an goal to become a conservationist, so his mother started to look for activities they could do jointly to protect native animals. Now she enjoys it as much as he does, the middle-aged small business owner explains – so when the group was looking for a new manager lately, she decided to step up.

The youth, too, has played an important role in the organization. A clip he made, urging the local council to close a street through a protected area during migration season, influenced the outcome the group's way. After a year of lobbying, the authority agreed to an "access-only" rule between 5pm and 5am from late winter through to April. Most drivers respected and avoided the route.

Additional Species and Challenges

A few cars go by when I'm out on patrol and we discover some casualties as a consequence – no toads, but three squashed newts. We see one living newt as well, and the teenager is especially excited to see a harvestman, which dances in his palms. Yet despite the group's best efforts to let me see a toad, the native community has clearly settled down for the winter. It appears that I couldn't have found any more luck anywhere else in the country – all the patrol groups I reach out to clarify that it's near-impossible at this time of year.

This team anticipates assisting around ten thousand mature toads over the street

One email I receive from a different helper, who has generously taken the trouble to look for toads in a famous site, thought to be the largest accurately monitored 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 ten thousand mature amphibians across the road.

Impact and Challenges

How much of a difference can these organizations truly achieve? "The fact that people are performing this consistently on cold, damp and unpleasant late nights is remarkable," says an expert. "This effort that very much should be celebrated." However, while rescue teams are able to reduce the drop, they cannot prevent it entirely – partly since traffic is just one danger.

Additional Threats

The climate crisis has meant longer periods of drought, which create the wrong conditions for some of the animals that toads eat, such as worms and slugs, while higher water temperatures have caused an rise of toxic plants, which can be harmful to toads. Milder winters also cause toads to emerge from their dormancy more often, interfering with the resource preservation vital to their life cycle. Habitat destruction – particularly the disappearance of large ponds – is another menace.

Experts are "always a bit worried about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on wildlife," but "There is a big value in just having these animals around." But toads do have an significant part in the ecosystem, eating pretty much any invertebrates or tiny organisms they can fit in their mouths and in turn sustaining a variety of predators, such as hedgehogs and otters. Improving conditions for toads – ie creating more ponds, protecting forests and constructing amphibian passages – "benefits for a whole bunch of additional wildlife."

Cultural Significance

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