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It's a Friday night at 7:30, but rather than going out or watching a film, I've caught a train to a market town in the countryside to meet up with volunteers from a amphibian rescue group. These dedicated individuals sacrifice their evenings to protect the native amphibian community.

An Alarming Decline in Numbers

The Bufo bufo is becoming increasingly uncommon. A recent research conducted by an wildlife conservation group revealed that the British common toad numbers have almost halved since 1985. Seeing a creature that has been a fixture of the British countryside in decrease is labeled "worrying" by researchers. Toads "don't require very specific conditions" and "ought to live quite well in the majority of habitats in the UK," meaning if even they are struggling to persist, "it kind of suggests that the ecosystem is unbalanced."

The UK toad population has almost halved since 1985

The Threat from Traffic

Though the research didn't examine the reasons for the drop, traffic certainly plays a part. Estimates indicate that 20 tonnes of toads are crushed on British roads every year – that is, several hundred thousand. Unlike frogs, which might be content to mate "if you left out a bucket of water," toads prefer large ponds. Their capacity to stay out of water for longer than frogs allows they can travel further to reach them – sometimes hundreds of metres. They tend to follow their ancestral migration routes – it's common for adult toads to return to their birth pond to mate.

Migration Habits

Fittingly, the initial amphibians begin their quest for a mate around February 14th, but some move as late as spring, until it gets night and moving after sunset. During that time, toads start moving from wherever they have been hibernating "almost simultaneously."

A local helper, who was raised in the area and has been working to save its amphibians since he was a boy, notes that "Their sole purpose: to go and have an orgy." If their path crosses a road, they could be killed by traffic, and that breeding season would never happen – stopping a new generation of toads from being born.

Toad Patrols Throughout the UK

Finding many of toad carcasses on local roads "inherently strikes a chord with people," and has led to the formation of toad patrols throughout the UK – 274 groups are currently registered with a national initiative. These teams pick up toads and transport them over streets in buckets, as well as counting the number of toads they find and advocating for other safety solutions, such as road closures and amphibian passages.

Patrols usually work during the migration season, when toad crossings are frequent. However, this implies they can miss groups of young toads, which, having existed as eggs and then juveniles, leave their ponds over an unpredictable schedule in the end of summer. Because of their size – just a couple of cm wide – "they can get obliterated by vehicles." And as being run over "basically turns them into mush," it's harder to collect information on them. At least when adult toads are lost, their carcasses can be tallied.

Annual Work

Unlike many groups, one local team, who are in their eighth season of operating, go out throughout the year – not every night, but when conditions are warm and wet, 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 a toady night" – winter dormancy has begun 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, that pair will spot one," says the patrol manager, pointing to her 14-year-old son and the experienced member. We've been out for 120 minutes without a glimpse of any amphibians, and now they have scaled a wire barrier to inspect beneath some wood.

Family Participation

The mother and son became part of the patrol a year and a half ago. The youngster loves all things nature-related and has an ambition to become a environmentalist, so his parent started to search for activities they could do jointly to protect native animals. Now she loves it as much as he does, the 41-year-old entrepreneur 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 organization. A clip he created, urging the municipal authority to block a road through a protected area during breeding time, influenced the outcome the group's way. After a twelve months of campaigning, the council agreed to an "access-only" restriction between evening and morning from February through to spring. The majority of motorists duly avoided the road.

Additional Species and Challenges

Several vehicles go past when I'm out on patrol and we find some casualties as a consequence – no amphibians, but three squashed newts. We spot one live amphibian as well, and the teenager is especially excited to see a harvestman, which dances in his palms. Yet in spite of the group's best efforts to show me a toad, the local population has clearly gone dormant for the winter. It appears that I wouldn't have had any better success elsewhere in the nation – all the patrol groups I reach out to clarify that it's near-impossible at this time of year.

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

A message I receive from a different helper, who has kindly made the effort to look for toads in a noted location, considered the largest accurately monitored toad group in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the subject line: "None found." However, in February and March, he informs me, the team expects to help approximately 10,000 adult toads over the street.

Impact and Challenges

How much of a difference can these groups actually make? "The fact that people are doing this regularly on cold, damp and unpleasant evenings is remarkable," notes an expert. "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 – not least because vehicles is just one danger.

Other Dangers

The climate crisis has meant extended spells of dry weather, which cause the wrong conditions for some of the animals that toads eat, such as invertebrates, while higher water temperatures have caused an increase of blue-green algae, which can be harmful to toads. Milder winters also lead toads to emerge from their hibernation more frequently, disrupting the energy conservation crucial to their existence. Loss of environment – especially the disappearance of large ponds – is another menace.

Experts are "always a bit worried about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on biodiversity," however "There is a big value in just their presence." But toads do have an important role in the food chain, eating pretty much any small creatures or tiny organisms they can fit in their mouths and in turn sustaining a number of birds and mammals, such as wildlife. Improving conditions for toads – ie creating more ponds, protecting forests and installing toad tunnels – "we'll improve them for a whole bunch of additional wildlife."

Historical Importance

Another reason to work to preserve toads present is their "important cultural value," adds an expert. Legends and tales around toads go back {centuries|hundred