Can Britain's Toads Be Saved from Traffic and Population Collapse?

It's Friday night at 7:30, but instead of going out or relaxing at home, I've taken a train to a town in the countryside to meet up with local helpers from a toad patrol. These committed people sacrifice their evenings to safeguard the local toad population.

A Worrying Drop in Population

The common toad is growing more rare. A recent study led 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 UK landscape in decrease is described as "worrying" by researchers. Toads "don't require very particular environments" and "ought to live successfully in most of areas in Britain," so if even they are not managing to survive, "it kind of suggests that the ecosystem is unbalanced."

Since 1985, Britain's toad numbers have nearly been cut in half

The Threat from Traffic

Though the study didn't examine the reasons for the drop, cars certainly plays a part. Calculations indicate that 20 tonnes of toads are crushed on British roads every year – that is, several hundred thousand. In contrast to frogs, which would probably be happy to mate "if you left out a bucket of water," toads prefer large ponds. Their ability to remain away from water for more time than frogs allows they can travel further to find them – often hundreds of metres. They tend to stick to their traditional paths – it's typical for adult toads to go back to their natal pond to mate.

Migration Habits

Fittingly, the first toads begin their quest for a mate around February 14th, but some move as far as spring, waiting until it gets dark and moving through the night. During that time, toads begin migrating from wherever they have been hibernating "almost simultaneously."

One volunteer, who was raised in the region and has been trying to protect its amphibians since he was a child, explains that "They've got just one focus: to go and have an orgy." If their path happens to a street, they could be killed by traffic, and that breeding season would never happen – stopping a new generation of toads from being born.

Toad Patrols Across the United Kingdom

Finding hundreds of dead toads on nearby streets "resonates deeply with people," and has resulted in the creation of rescue teams across the UK – hundreds of organizations are officially listed with a national initiative. These teams pick up toads and transport them across roads in containers, as well as counting the number of toads they encounter and lobbying for other safety solutions, such as road closures and underground wildlife tunnels.

Patrols tend to operate during the breeding period, when toad crossings are frequent. However, this means they can overlook numbers of young toads, which, having been eggs and then juveniles, leave their water habitats over an unpredictable schedule in late summer. Because of their size – just a couple of cm wide – "they are destroyed by vehicles." And as being run over "basically turns them into mush," it's harder to get data on them. At least when mature amphibians are killed, their remains can be counted.

Year-Round Work

In contrast to most patrols, one local team, who are in their eighth year of functioning, go out year-round – not every night, but when conditions are warm and wet, or if someone has reported about a amphibian spotting in their messaging app. When I ask to join them on patrol, they admit it is "not ideal conditions" – winter dormancy has begun and it's been a dry day – but several of the volunteers gamely agree to walk up and down their area with me and see what we can find. "Should anyone can find any toads tonight, that pair will find one," says the patrol manager, indicating her teenage child and the experienced member. We've been out for 120 minutes without a single toad sighting, and now they have scaled a barbed wire fence to inspect beneath some logs.

Community Participation

The family duo joined the patrol a while back. The teenager adores 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 small business owner explains – so when the team was looking for a new manager recently, she decided to step up.

The youth, too, has played an important role in the organization. A clip he created, imploring the municipal authority to close a street through a nature reserve during breeding time, influenced the outcome the team's way. After a year of campaigning, the authority approved an "access-only" rule between 5pm and 5am from late winter through to April. The majority of motorists respected and avoided the road.

Additional Species and Challenges

A few vehicles go past when I'm out on patrol and we find some casualties as a consequence – no toads, but three squashed newts. We see one live amphibian as well, and the teenager is particularly pleased to see a harvestman, which dances in his hands. Yet despite the team's hardest attempts to let me see a toad, the native community has obviously settled down for the colder months. It appears that I couldn't have found any more luck anywhere else in the nation – all the patrol groups I contact explain that it's very difficult 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 generously made the effort to look for toads in a noted location, considered the largest accurately monitored toad population in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the subject line: "No toads." However, in late winter, he informs me, the group expects to help approximately 10,000 mature amphibians over the street.

Effectiveness and Limitations

How much of a difference can these organizations actually make? "The fact that volunteers are doing this regularly on cold, damp and unpleasant evenings is remarkable," says an researcher. "This effort that very much should be celebrated." However, while rescue teams are able to slow the decline, they can't stop it completely – partly since traffic is not the only threat.

Additional Threats

The global warming has resulted in extended spells of dry weather, which create the poor environment for some of the creatures that toads eat, such as invertebrates, while warmer ponds have led to an increase of blue-green algae, which can be harmful to toads. Milder winters also lead toads to emerge from their dormancy more frequently, interfering with the energy conservation vital to their life cycle. Loss of environment – particularly the loss of large ponds – is another menace.

Experts are "often concerned about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on wildlife," but "There is a big value in just their presence." But toads play an important role in the food chain, consuming pretty much any invertebrates or tiny organisms they can swallow and in turn feeding a variety of predators, such as hedgehogs and otters. Enhancing conditions for toads – such as creating more ponds, conserving woodland and installing amphibian passages – "benefits for a whole bunch of other species."

Historical Importance

Another reason to try to keep toads around is their "historical significance," notes an expert. Legends and tales around toads date back {centuries|hundred