Will the UK's Common 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 taken a train to a market town in the countryside to join local helpers from a toad patrol. These committed people give up their nights to safeguard the local toad population.

A Worrying Drop in Numbers

The Bufo bufo is becoming increasingly uncommon. A latest study led by an amphibian and reptile charity showed that the British common toad numbers have almost halved since 1985. Observing a creature that has been a fixture of the British countryside in decline is labeled "worrying" by experts. Toads "don't require very specific conditions" and "ought to live successfully in the majority of habitats in the UK," meaning if even they are not managing to survive, "it kind of suggests that things are not as they should be."

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

The Danger from Traffic

Though the study didn't examine the causes for the decline, cars certainly plays a part. Estimates indicate that 20 tons of toads are crushed on UK roads annually – that is, 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 ability to remain away from water for more time than frogs means they can travel further to reach them – often long distances. 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 partner around Valentine's day, but others travel as far as spring, waiting until it gets night and moving after sunset. During that period, toads begin migrating from wherever they have been overwintering "all pretty much at the same time."

A local helper, who was raised in the area and has been working to save its amphibians since he was a child, explains that "They've got just one focus: to go and mate." If their path happens to a road, they could all get run over, and that breeding season would never happen – stopping a new generation of toads from being produced.

Rescue Groups Throughout the United Kingdom

Finding hundreds of dead toads on local roads "inherently strikes a chord with people," and has led to the formation of rescue teams across the UK – hundreds of organizations are officially listed with a countrywide program. These groups pick up toads and transport them across roads in buckets, as well as recording the quantity of toads they encounter and advocating for other safety solutions, such as blocked roads and amphibian passages.

Volunteers usually work during the breeding period, when toad crossings are frequent. However, this implies they can overlook groups 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 size – just one or two centimetres wide – "they are destroyed by car traffic." And as being run over "basically turns them into mush," it's harder to get data on them. At least when mature amphibians are lost, their carcasses can be counted.

Annual Work

In contrast to most patrols, one local team, who are in their eighth year of operating, go out throughout the year – not nightly, but when conditions are warm and wet, or if a member has reported about a toad sighting in their group chat. When I ask to join them on duty, they concede it is "not a toady night" – toad hibernation season has started and it's been a arid period – but several of the volunteers gamely agree to walk up and down their area with me and see what we can find. "If anyone can find any toads tonight, those two will spot one," says the group coordinator, indicating her 14-year-old son and the longtime volunteer. We've been out for 120 minutes without a single toad sighting, and now they have scaled a wire barrier to inspect beneath some wood.

Community Participation

The mother and son became part of the group a while back. The youngster adores all things nature-related and has an ambition to become a conservationist, so his mother started to search for things they could do jointly to help native animals. Now she enjoys it as much as he does, the middle-aged small business owner tells me – so when the team was looking for a fresh coordinator recently, she volunteered for the role.

The teenager, too, has played an important role in the group. A clip he created, imploring the municipal authority to block a road through a protected area during migration season, swung the decision the group's way. After a year of campaigning, the authority approved an "access-only" restriction between 5pm and 5am from February through to April. Most drivers duly avoided the road.

Additional Species and Challenges

Several cars go past when I'm out on duty and we discover some victims as a consequence – no amphibians, but several crushed salamanders. We see one live amphibian as well, and the youngster is especially excited to see a daddy longlegs, which moves in his hands. Yet despite the team's best efforts to let me see a toad, the native community has obviously gone dormant for the colder months. It seems that I wouldn't have had any more luck anywhere else in the country – all the rescue teams I contact clarify that it's very difficult at this season.

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

A message I receive from another volunteer, who has generously taken the trouble to check for toads in a famous site, thought to be the biggest tracked toad population in the UK, reaches me with the title: "None found." However, in late winter, he informs me, the team plans to assist around 10,000 mature amphibians over the street.

Effectiveness and Challenges

What level of impact can these groups truly achieve? "The fact that volunteers are doing this consistently on cold, damp and unpleasant evenings is quite extraordinary," notes an researcher. "That's something that very much deserves recognition." However, while toad patrols are able to slow the decline, they can't stop it completely – partly since traffic is just one danger.

Additional Threats

The global warming has resulted in longer periods of drought, which create the poor environment for some of the animals that toads consume, such as worms and slugs, while higher water temperatures have caused an rise of blue-green algae, which can be toxic to toads. Milder winters also lead toads to wake up from their dormancy more frequently, interfering with the energy conservation vital to their existence. Loss of environment – particularly the loss of big water bodies – 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 significant part in the food chain, eating almost any invertebrates or small animals they can fit in their mouths and in turn sustaining a variety of predators, such as hedgehogs and otters. Enhancing situations for toads – such as creating more ponds, protecting forests and installing toad tunnels – "benefits for a whole bunch of other species."

Historical Importance

An additional motive to work to preserve toads around is their "historical significance," notes an specialist. Legends and tales around toads date back {centuries|hundred