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

It is Friday night at half past seven, but instead of heading to the pub or relaxing at home, I've taken a train to a town in Wiltshire to join volunteers from a toad patrol. These committed people give up their evenings to protect the native amphibian community.

An Alarming Drop in Numbers

The common toad is growing more rare. A recent study conducted 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 labeled "concerning" by researchers. Toads "don't require very specific conditions" and "ought to live successfully in most of areas in Britain," 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 research didn't cover the reasons for the decline, traffic is a major factor. Calculations suggest that 20 tons of toads are crushed on UK roads every year – that is, hundreds of thousands. In contrast to frogs, which would probably be content to mate "if you left out a small container," toads prefer large ponds. Their capacity to stay out of water for longer than frogs allows they can travel further to reach them – sometimes long distances. They usually follow their traditional paths – it's common for adult toads to go back to their birth pond to mate.

Migration Habits

Fittingly, the first toads start their journey for a mate around Valentine's day, but others travel as far as April, waiting until it gets night and travelling through the night. During that time, toads start moving from where they have been hibernating "almost simultaneously."

One volunteer, who grew up in the area and has been working to save its toad population since he was a boy, notes that "They've got just one focus: to go and have an orgy." If their route happens to a street, they could be killed by traffic, and that breeding season would be lost – preventing a next generation of toads from being produced.

Toad Patrols Across the UK

Seeing many of dead toads on local roads "resonates deeply with people," and has resulted in the creation of rescue teams throughout the UK – hundreds of organizations are officially listed with a national initiative. These groups collect toads and transport them across roads in buckets, as well as counting the quantity of toads they find and advocating for other safety solutions, such as blocked roads and underground wildlife tunnels.

Volunteers tend to operate during the breeding period, when toad crossings are more regular. However, this means they can overlook groups of young toads, which, having been eggs and then tadpoles, 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 car traffic." And as being hit "basically turns them into mush," it's harder to collect information on them. At least when adult toads are killed, their carcasses can be counted.

Annual Work

Unlike most patrols, one local team, who are in their eighth season of operating, go out year-round – not every night, but whenever conditions are warm and wet, or if someone has posted about a amphibian spotting in their messaging app. When I request to accompany them on patrol, they admit it is "not a toady night" – toad hibernation season has begun and it's been a arid period – but a few of the volunteers gamely agree to walk up and down their route with me and search for any toads. "If anyone can locate 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 check under some logs.

Community Involvement

The family duo became part of the group a while back. The teenager loves all things nature-related and has an goal to become a conservationist, so his parent started to search 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 tells me – so when the team was looking for a fresh coordinator lately, she volunteered for the role.

The teenager, too, has played an important role in the group. A clip he made, imploring the local council to block a street through a protected area during breeding time, influenced the outcome the team's way. After a year of lobbying, the council agreed to an "restricted access" rule between 5pm and 5am from February through to April. Most drivers respected and avoided the route.

Additional Species and Challenges

Several cars go past when I'm out on duty and we discover some casualties as a consequence – no toads, but several crushed salamanders. We see one living newt as well, and the teenager is especially excited to see a daddy longlegs, which dances in his palms. Yet despite the team's hardest attempts to let me see a toad, the local population has obviously settled down for the winter. It seems that I wouldn't have had any better success anywhere else in the country – all the rescue teams I reach out to clarify that it's near-impossible at this season.

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

A message I get from a different helper, who has kindly taken the trouble to check for toads in a noted location, thought to be the biggest tracked toad population in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the subject line: "None found." However, in February and March, he informs me, the team plans to assist approximately ten thousand mature amphibians across the road.

Impact and Challenges

How much of a difference can these organizations actually make? "The fact that volunteers are doing this consistently on chilly, wet and miserable late nights is remarkable," says an researcher. "That's something that very much should be celebrated." However, while rescue teams are able to slow the decline, they can't stop it completely – not least because traffic is not the only threat.

Other Dangers

The climate crisis has resulted in extended spells of drought, which cause the wrong conditions for some of the animals that toads eat, such as worms and slugs, while warmer ponds have caused an rise of blue-green algae, which can be toxic to toads. Warmer cold seasons also cause toads to emerge from their dormancy more frequently, disrupting the resource preservation vital to their existence. Habitat destruction – especially the loss of large ponds – is an additional threat.

Researchers are "often concerned about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on biodiversity," however "There is a big value in just having these animals around." But toads play an important role in the food chain, consuming almost any small creatures or small animals they can swallow and in turn feeding a number of predators, such as hedgehogs and otters. Enhancing situations for toads – ie building water habitats, protecting forests and installing amphibian passages – "we'll improve them for a whole bunch of additional wildlife."

Historical Significance

An additional motive to try to keep toads around is their "historical significance," adds an expert. Myths and folklore around toads date back {centuries|hundred