Can the UK's Toads Be Saved from Roads and Population Collapse?

It's a Friday evening at half past seven, but instead of heading to the pub or relaxing at home, I've taken a train to a market town in Wiltshire to join local helpers from a amphibian rescue group. These committed people sacrifice their evenings to safeguard the native amphibian community.

An Alarming Drop in Numbers

The common toad is growing more rare. A latest research conducted by an wildlife conservation group showed that the UK toad population have almost halved since 1985. Seeing a creature that has been a stalwart of the UK landscape in decrease is labeled "worrying" by researchers. Toads "don't require very specific conditions" and "ought to live quite well in the majority of areas in the UK," meaning if even they are struggling to persist, "it indicates that the ecosystem is unbalanced."

The UK toad population has almost halved since 1985

The Threat from Traffic

Though the study didn't examine the causes for the drop, traffic is a major factor. Calculations suggest that 20 tons of toads are killed on British roads annually – in other words, hundreds of thousands. Unlike frogs, which would probably be happy to mate "with just a bucket of water," toads favor large ponds. Their ability to remain away from water for longer than frogs allows they can journey farther to find them – sometimes long distances. They usually follow their ancestral migration routes – it's typical for mature amphibians to go back to their natal pond to mate.

Breeding Patterns

Fittingly, the initial amphibians start their journey for a partner around February 14th, but others travel as far as April, until it gets dark and travelling after sunset. During that period, toads start moving from where 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 boy, explains that "Their sole purpose: to go and mate." If their path crosses a road, they could all get run over, and that mating period would be lost – stopping a next generation of toads from being produced.

Rescue Groups Across the United Kingdom

Seeing many of dead toads on local roads "inherently strikes a chord with people," and has resulted in the creation of rescue teams across the UK – hundreds of organizations are currently registered with a national initiative. These teams pick up toads and carry them over streets in buckets, as well as counting the quantity of toads they find and lobbying for other protection measures, such as road closures and underground wildlife tunnels.

Patrols usually work during the breeding period, when toad crossings are more regular. However, this means they can miss numbers of young toads, which, having been eggs and then tadpoles, leave their water habitats over an unpredictable schedule in the end of summer. Because of their small stature – just one or two centimetres wide – "they can get obliterated by car traffic." And as being run over "basically turns them into mush," it's harder to get data on them. At least when adult toads are lost, their carcasses can be tallied.

Annual Efforts

Unlike many groups, one local team, who are in their eighth year of operating, go out throughout the year – not nightly, but when weather are damp, 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 ideal conditions" – winter dormancy 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. "If anyone can find any toads tonight, those two will find one," says the patrol manager, indicating her teenage child and the longtime volunteer. After for two hours without a glimpse of any amphibians, and now they have scaled a wire barrier to check under some wood.

Family Involvement

The mother and son became part of the group a year and a half ago. The youngster adores all things nature-related and has an goal to become a environmentalist, so his parent started to look 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 seeking a fresh coordinator recently, she volunteered for the role.

The youth, too, has played an important role in the group. A clip he created, urging the local council to block a street through a nature reserve during migration season, swung the decision the group's way. After a year of lobbying, the authority agreed to an "restricted access" restriction between evening and morning from February through to April. Most drivers respected and avoided the route.

Other Wildlife and Difficulties

Several vehicles go past when I'm out on duty and we find some victims as a consequence – no toads, but several crushed salamanders. We see one live amphibian as well, and the teenager is particularly pleased to see a daddy longlegs, which moves in his hands. Yet in spite of the group's hardest attempts to show me a toad, the native community has clearly 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 contact clarify that it's very difficult at this time of year.

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

One email I receive from a different helper, who has kindly made the effort to check for toads in a noted location, thought to be the biggest tracked toad population in the UK, reaches me with the title: "No toads." However, in late winter, he tells me, the group expects to help around 10,000 adult toads across the road.

Effectiveness and Limitations

How much of a difference can these organizations truly achieve? "The fact that volunteers are performing this regularly on cold, damp and unpleasant late nights is quite extraordinary," says an researcher. "That's something that very much should be celebrated." 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 dry weather, which cause the poor environment for some of the creatures that toads eat, such as worms and slugs, while warmer ponds have led to an rise of toxic plants, which can be toxic to toads. Warmer cold seasons also cause toads to emerge from their hibernation more often, interfering with the resource preservation crucial to their existence. Habitat destruction – particularly the disappearance of big water bodies – is another menace.

Experts 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 do have an significant part in the food chain, eating almost any invertebrates or small animals they can fit in their mouths and in turn feeding a variety of birds and mammals, such as hedgehogs and otters. Improving situations for toads – such as creating more ponds, protecting forests and constructing toad tunnels – "we'll improve them for a wide range of additional wildlife."

Cultural Importance

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