Will the UK's Common Toads Survive from Roads and Terrible Decline?

It's Friday evening at 7:30, 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 toad patrol. These dedicated individuals give up their evenings to protect the local toad population.

A Worrying Decline in Numbers

The common toad is growing more rare. A recent research conducted by an wildlife conservation group revealed that the British common toad numbers have almost halved since 1985. Observing a species that has been a fixture of the UK landscape in decline is labeled "concerning" by experts. Toads "don't need very specific conditions" and "should be able to live quite well in the majority of areas in the UK," 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 Danger from Roads

Though the study didn't examine the causes for the drop, cars certainly plays a part. Calculations suggest that 20 tonnes of toads are killed on UK roads every year – in other words, hundreds of thousands. In contrast to frogs, which would probably be content to mate "with just a bucket of water," toads favor big bodies of water. Their capacity to stay out of water for longer than frogs means they can travel further to find them – often hundreds of metres. They tend to follow their ancestral migration routes – it's typical for mature amphibians to return to their birth pond to mate.

Breeding Patterns

Fittingly, the first toads begin their quest for a partner around February 14th, but others travel as late as spring, waiting until it gets dark and travelling after sunset. During that period, toads begin migrating from where 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, explains that "Their sole purpose: to go and mate." If their route crosses a road, they could be killed by traffic, and that breeding season would never happen – stopping a new generation of toads from being born.

Rescue Groups Across the UK

Seeing hundreds of toad carcasses on nearby streets "inherently strikes a chord with people," and has led to the formation of rescue teams throughout the UK – 274 groups are officially listed with a countrywide program. These teams collect toads and transport them over streets in containers, as well as counting the number of toads they encounter and advocating for other protection measures, such as road closures and amphibian passages.

Volunteers tend to operate during the breeding period, when toad crossings are frequent. However, this implies they can overlook numbers of young toads, which, having existed as eggs and then juveniles, exit their water habitats over an unpredictable schedule 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 harder to get data on them. At least when mature amphibians are killed, their remains can be counted.

Year-Round Efforts

In contrast to most patrols, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth season of functioning, go out throughout the year – not nightly, but when conditions are warm and wet, or if someone has reported about a toad sighting in their messaging app. 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 search for any toads. "Should anyone can locate any toads tonight, that pair will find one," says the group coordinator, indicating her 14-year-old son and the experienced member. We've been out for 120 minutes without a glimpse of any amphibians, and now they have scaled a barbed wire fence to check under some wood.

Community Participation

The family duo became part of the group a year and a half ago. The youngster adores all things nature-related and has an ambition to become a environmentalist, so his parent started to look for activities they could do together to protect native animals. Now she loves it as much as he does, the 41-year-old small business owner explains – so when the group was seeking a fresh coordinator lately, she decided to step up.

The teenager, too, has played an important role in the group. A video he made, urging the municipal authority to close a road through a protected area during migration season, swung the decision the team's way. After a twelve months of lobbying, the authority agreed to an "restricted access" restriction between evening and morning from late winter through to spring. Most drivers respected and avoided the route.

Additional Species and Challenges

Several vehicles 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 live amphibian as well, and the teenager is especially excited to see a daddy longlegs, which moves in his hands. Yet despite the team's hardest attempts to let me see a toad, the local population has obviously gone dormant for the winter. It appears that I couldn't have found any more luck anywhere else in the nation – all the rescue teams I reach out to clarify that it's near-impossible at this season.

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

A message I receive from a different helper, who has kindly made the effort to check for toads in a noted location, thought to be the largest accurately monitored toad population in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the title: "No toads." However, in February and March, he informs me, the team expects to help approximately 10,000 adult toads across the road.

Impact and Limitations

How much of a difference can these groups actually make? "The reality that volunteers are performing this regularly on chilly, wet and miserable evenings is quite extraordinary," notes an expert. "This effort that very much should be celebrated." However, while rescue teams are able to slow the decline, they cannot prevent it entirely – partly since vehicles is not the only threat.

Other Dangers

The global warming has meant extended spells of dry weather, which cause the wrong conditions for some of the animals that toads consume, such as worms and slugs, while higher water temperatures have led to an rise of blue-green algae, which can be harmful to toads. Warmer cold seasons also cause toads to wake up from their hibernation more often, disrupting the energy conservation vital to their existence. Loss of environment – particularly the loss of large ponds – is an additional threat.

Experts are "often concerned about overemphasizing practical benefits on wildlife," but "There is a big value in just having these animals around." But toads do have an important role in the food chain, eating almost any invertebrates or tiny organisms they can swallow and in turn sustaining a number of predators, such as hedgehogs and otters. Enhancing situations for toads – ie creating more ponds, protecting forests and constructing amphibian passages – "benefits for a whole bunch of additional wildlife."

Cultural Importance

Another reason to try to keep toads around is their "important cultural value," adds an specialist. Legends and tales around toads go back {centuries|hundred