Can Britain's Toads Be Saved from Roads and Terrible Decline?

It's Friday evening at half past seven, but instead of heading to the pub or watching a film, I've taken a train to a market town in the countryside to meet up with volunteers from a toad patrol. These dedicated individuals give up their nights to protect the local toad population.

An Alarming Drop in Numbers

The Bufo bufo is growing more rare. A recent study led by an amphibian and reptile charity revealed that the British common toad numbers have dropped by half since 1985. Seeing a species that has been a fixture of the UK landscape in decrease is described as "concerning" by researchers. Toads "don't need very specific conditions" and "should be able to live successfully in most of habitats in Britain," so if even they are not managing to survive, "it indicates that things are not as they should be."

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 drop, cars is a major factor. Estimates suggest that 20 tonnes of toads are killed on UK roads every year – in other words, several hundred thousand. In contrast to frogs, which might be happy to mate "if you left out a small container," toads favor big bodies of water. Their ability to remain away from water for more time than frogs allows they can journey farther to find them – often hundreds of metres. They usually stick to their ancestral migration routes – it's typical for mature amphibians to return to their birth pond to mate.

Breeding Habits

Appropriately enough, the first toads start their journey for a mate around Valentine's day, but others travel as far as April, until it gets night and travelling after sunset. During that time, toads begin migrating from where they have been hibernating "all pretty much at the same time."

A local helper, who grew up in the region and has been working to save its amphibians since he was a child, notes 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 be lost – stopping a new generation of toads from being produced.

Rescue Groups Across the UK

Seeing many of toad carcasses on nearby streets "inherently strikes a chord with people," and has resulted in the creation of toad patrols across the UK – 274 groups are currently registered with a national initiative. These teams collect toads and transport them across roads in containers, as well as counting the number of toads they find and advocating for other protection measures, such as road closures and amphibian passages.

Patrols tend to operate during the breeding period, when amphibian movements are more regular. However, this means they can overlook groups of toadlets, which, having been spawn and then tadpoles, exit their ponds over an irregular timetable in late summer. Because of their size – 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 lost, their remains can be counted.

Year-Round Work

Unlike most patrols, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth year of functioning, go out throughout the year – not nightly, but when 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 started and it's been a arid period – but several of the volunteers willingly accept to walk up and down their area with me and search for any toads. "Should anyone can locate any toads tonight, those two will find one," says the group coordinator, pointing to her 14-year-old son and the experienced member. We've been out for two hours without a glimpse of any amphibians, and now they have scaled a wire barrier to inspect beneath some logs.

Family Involvement

The mother and son joined the group a while back. The teenager adores all things nature-related and has an ambition to become a conservationist, so his mother started to look for activities they could do jointly 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 new manager lately, she decided to step up.

The teenager, too, has played an important role in the group. A video he created, urging the local council to close a street through a protected area during migration season, swung the decision the team's way. After a twelve months of campaigning, the council approved an "restricted access" rule between 5pm and 5am from late winter through to April. The majority of motorists duly avoided the road.

Additional Species and Difficulties

Several vehicles go past when I'm out on duty and we discover some casualties as a consequence – no amphibians, but several crushed salamanders. We spot one live amphibian as well, and the youngster is especially excited to see a daddy longlegs, which moves in his hands. Yet despite the group's best efforts to let me see a toad, the local population has clearly settled down for the winter. It appears that I couldn't have found any more luck elsewhere in the nation – all the patrol groups I contact clarify that it's very difficult at this time of year.

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

A message I receive from another volunteer, who has generously made the effort to check for toads in a famous site, thought to be the largest accurately monitored toad group in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the subject line: "No toads." However, in February and March, he tells me, the team plans to assist approximately ten thousand adult toads over the street.

Effectiveness and Limitations

What level of impact can these organizations actually make? "The fact that volunteers are performing this consistently on cold, damp and unpleasant late nights is remarkable," says an researcher. "This effort that very much should be celebrated." However, while toad patrols are able to reduce the drop, they cannot prevent it entirely – partly since traffic is just one danger.

Other Dangers

The climate crisis has resulted in extended spells of dry weather, which create the wrong conditions for some of the creatures that toads eat, such as invertebrates, while warmer ponds have led to an increase of toxic plants, which can be toxic to toads. Milder winters also cause toads to emerge from their hibernation more frequently, disrupting the energy conservation crucial to their existence. Habitat destruction – especially the disappearance of large ponds – is another menace.

Researchers are "always a bit worried about overemphasizing practical benefits on wildlife," however "There is a big value in just their presence." But toads play an important role in the ecosystem, eating almost any small creatures or small animals they can swallow and in turn sustaining a variety of predators, such as wildlife. Improving conditions for toads – ie building water habitats, protecting forests and constructing toad tunnels – "we'll improve them for a wide range of additional wildlife."

Cultural Significance

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