Will the UK's Toads Survive from Traffic and Population Collapse?

It's Friday night at 7:30, but instead of going out or watching a film, I've caught a train to a market town in the countryside to join volunteers from a toad patrol. These committed people give up their evenings to protect the native amphibian community.

A Worrying Decline in Numbers

The Bufo bufo is becoming increasingly rare. A recent research led by an wildlife conservation group showed that the UK toad population have almost halved since 1985. Seeing a species that has been a fixture of the British countryside in decrease is described as "worrying" by researchers. Toads "don't need very particular environments" and "should be able to live quite well in the majority of areas in Britain," meaning if even they are not managing to survive, "it indicates that things are not as they should be."

The UK toad population has almost halved since 1985

The Danger from Traffic

Though the study didn't examine the causes for the decline, traffic is a major factor. Calculations indicate that 20 tons of toads are killed on UK roads every year – that is, hundreds of thousands. Unlike frogs, which would probably be happy to mate "if you left out 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 reach them – often hundreds of metres. They usually follow their traditional paths – it's typical for mature amphibians to go back to their natal pond to mate.

Migration Habits

Appropriately enough, the initial amphibians begin their quest for a partner around February 14th, but some move as late as April, waiting until it gets dark and travelling through the night. During that period, toads begin migrating from where they have been overwintering "all pretty much at the same time."

A local helper, who was raised in the region 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 path happens to a street, they could be killed by traffic, and that mating period would be lost – stopping a next generation of toads from being produced.

Toad Patrols Throughout the United Kingdom

Seeing many of dead toads on nearby streets "inherently strikes a chord with people," and has led to the creation of rescue teams across the UK – hundreds of organizations are currently registered with a national initiative. These teams collect toads and carry them over streets in containers, as well as recording the number of toads they encounter and lobbying for other protection measures, such as blocked roads and amphibian passages.

Volunteers usually work during the migration season, when amphibian movements are frequent. However, this means they can miss numbers of young toads, which, having existed as eggs and then tadpoles, exit their water habitats over an irregular timetable in the end of summer. Because of their size – just a couple of cm wide – "they are destroyed by car traffic." And as being run over "basically turns them into mush," it's more difficult to get data on them. At least when adult toads are lost, their remains can be tallied.

Annual Efforts

In contrast to most patrols, one local team, who are in their eighth year of operating, go out throughout the year – not every night, but when weather are warm and wet, or if someone has posted about a amphibian spotting in their group chat. When I ask to join them on patrol, 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 search for any toads. "Should anyone can find any toads tonight, those two will find one," says the group coordinator, indicating her teenage child and the experienced member. After for two hours without a single toad sighting, and now they have scaled a wire barrier to check under some logs.

Family Participation

The mother and son became part of the group a while back. The teenager adores all things wildlife and has an ambition to become a conservationist, so his parent started to look for activities they could do jointly to protect local wildlife. Now she loves it as much as he does, the middle-aged entrepreneur tells me – so when the team was looking for a fresh coordinator recently, she volunteered for the role.

The teenager, too, has been instrumental in the group. A clip he created, imploring the local council to close a road through a nature reserve during migration season, influenced the outcome the team's way. After a twelve months of campaigning, the council approved an "access-only" rule between evening and morning from February through to April. Most drivers duly avoided the road.

Other Wildlife and Difficulties

A few cars go by when I'm out on patrol and we find some casualties as a consequence – no toads, but several crushed salamanders. We spot one living newt as well, and the teenager is especially excited to see a harvestman, which dances in his hands. Yet in spite of the group's hardest attempts to show me a toad, the native community has clearly gone dormant for the winter. It seems that I couldn't have found any better success anywhere else in the nation – all the patrol groups I reach out to clarify that it's very difficult at this time of year.

They project rescuing nearly 10,000 grown amphibians during migration

One email I get from a different helper, who has generously made the effort to check for toads in a noted location, considered the largest accurately monitored toad group in the UK, reaches me with the subject line: "No toads." However, in late winter, he informs me, the group expects to help around ten thousand mature amphibians across the road.

Effectiveness and Challenges

How much of a difference can these organizations actually make? "The reality that volunteers are performing this regularly on chilly, wet and miserable late nights is quite extraordinary," notes an researcher. "That's something that very much deserves recognition." However, while toad patrols are able to reduce the drop, they cannot prevent it entirely – not least because traffic is not the only threat.

Other Dangers

The global warming has meant extended spells of drought, which create the wrong conditions for some of the creatures that toads consume, such as invertebrates, while higher water temperatures have led to an increase of toxic plants, which can be harmful to toads. Warmer cold seasons also lead toads to wake up from their hibernation more frequently, disrupting the energy conservation crucial to their existence. Loss of environment – especially the disappearance of big water bodies – is another menace.

Researchers are "often concerned about overemphasizing practical benefits on wildlife," however "It's important in just their presence." But toads play an significant part in the food chain, consuming almost any small creatures or small animals they can fit in their mouths and in turn sustaining a number 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 wide range of additional wildlife."

Cultural Significance

Another reason to try to keep toads around is their "historical significance," notes an expert. Myths and folklore around toads date back {centuries|hundred