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It's a Friday night at 7:30, but rather than heading to the pub or watching a film, I've taken a train to a town in Wiltshire to meet up with local helpers from a amphibian rescue group. These committed people sacrifice their nights to safeguard the local toad population.

A Worrying Decline in Population

The common toad is growing more rare. A recent research conducted by an amphibian and reptile charity revealed that the British common toad numbers have almost halved since 1985. Observing a species that has been a stalwart 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 the majority of habitats in Britain," so 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 Threat from Roads

Though the research didn't examine the causes for the drop, cars is a major factor. Calculations indicate that 20 tonnes of toads are crushed on UK roads every year – in other words, several hundred thousand. Unlike frogs, which might be happy to mate "with just a bucket of water," toads favor large ponds. Their capacity to stay out of water for longer than frogs allows they can travel further to find them – often hundreds of metres. They tend to follow their ancestral migration routes – it's typical for mature amphibians to go back to their natal pond to mate.

Breeding Patterns

Appropriately enough, the initial amphibians begin their quest for a mate around Valentine's day, but others travel as late as April, waiting until it gets dark and travelling after sunset. During that time, toads start moving from wherever they have been overwintering "almost simultaneously."

One volunteer, who was raised in the region and has been working to save its amphibians since he was a child, explains that "Their sole purpose: to go and mate." If their path crosses a street, they could all get run over, and that mating period would never happen – stopping a new generation of toads from being produced.

Toad Patrols Across the UK

Finding hundreds of dead toads on local roads "inherently strikes a chord with people," and has led to the formation of rescue teams throughout the UK – 274 groups are currently registered with a countrywide program. These groups pick up toads and carry them across roads in containers, as well as recording the quantity of toads they encounter and lobbying for other safety solutions, such as blocked roads and underground wildlife tunnels.

Patrols tend to operate during the migration season, when toad crossings are more regular. However, this means they can miss numbers of young toads, which, having existed as spawn and then juveniles, exit their ponds over an unpredictable schedule in late summer. Because of their small stature – just one or two centimetres wide – "they are destroyed by vehicles." And as being run over "essentially crushes them," it's more difficult to get data on them. At least when mature amphibians are killed, their remains can be tallied.

Year-Round Efforts

Unlike many groups, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth year of operating, go out year-round – not nightly, but when conditions are warm and wet, or if a member has posted about a amphibian spotting in their group chat. When I request to accompany them on patrol, they admit it is "not ideal conditions" – toad hibernation season has started and it's been a dry day – but several of the helpers gamely agree to patrol their route with me and see what we can find. "If anyone can locate any toads tonight, those two will spot one," says the group coordinator, indicating 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.

Community Participation

The mother and son became part of the group a while back. The youngster 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 enjoys it as much as he does, the middle-aged entrepreneur explains – so when the group was looking for a new manager recently, she volunteered for the role.

The teenager, too, has played an important role in the organization. A video he made, imploring the municipal authority to block a road through a nature reserve during breeding time, swung the decision the team's way. After a year of campaigning, the council approved an "restricted access" restriction between evening and morning from February through to April. Most drivers duly avoided the route.

Other Wildlife and Challenges

A few cars go past when I'm out on patrol and we find some victims as a result – no toads, but three squashed newts. We see one living newt as well, and the youngster is particularly pleased to see a harvestman, which dances 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 winter. It appears that I couldn't have found any more luck elsewhere in the country – all the patrol groups I reach out to clarify that it's near-impossible at this time of year.

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

One email I get from another volunteer, who has generously made the effort to check for toads in a famous site, considered the largest accurately monitored toad population in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the subject line: "No toads." However, in February and March, he tells me, the group expects to help around ten thousand adult toads across the road.

Impact and Challenges

How much of a difference can these groups actually make? "The fact that people are doing this regularly on chilly, wet and miserable evenings is quite extraordinary," notes an expert. "This effort that very much should be celebrated." However, while rescue teams are able to reduce the drop, they can't stop it completely – not least because traffic is just one danger.

Other Dangers

The climate crisis has resulted in longer periods of dry weather, which create the poor environment for some of the animals that toads eat, such as worms and slugs, while warmer ponds have caused an rise of toxic plants, which can be toxic to toads. Warmer cold seasons also cause toads to emerge from their dormancy more frequently, interfering with the energy conservation crucial to their existence. Loss of environment – especially the disappearance of big water bodies – is another menace.

Researchers are "always a bit worried about overemphasizing practical benefits on biodiversity," but "There is a big value in just their presence." But toads do have an significant part in the ecosystem, consuming almost any small creatures or tiny organisms they can swallow and in turn sustaining a variety of predators, such as wildlife. Enhancing situations for toads – such as building water habitats, protecting forests and installing amphibian passages – "benefits for a whole bunch of other species."

Cultural Importance

An additional motive to work to preserve toads present is their "important cultural value," adds an specialist. Legends and tales around toads date back {centuries|hundred