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It is 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 amphibian rescue group. These committed people sacrifice their evenings to protect the native amphibian community.

An Alarming Decline in Population

The Bufo bufo is growing more uncommon. A latest research conducted by an wildlife conservation group revealed that the UK toad population have dropped by half since the mid-1980s. Seeing a species that has been a stalwart of the British countryside in decline is described as "worrying" by researchers. Toads "don't need very particular environments" and "ought to live successfully in the majority of habitats in Britain," so if even they are not managing to survive, "it kind of suggests that things are not as they should be."

Since 1985, Britain's toad numbers have nearly been cut in half

The Threat from Roads

Though the research didn't examine the reasons for the decline, traffic is a major factor. Estimates indicate that 20 tonnes of toads are killed on UK roads annually – that is, hundreds of thousands. Unlike frogs, which might be happy to mate "if you left out a bucket of water," toads prefer large ponds. Their capacity to remain away from water for more time than frogs allows they can journey farther to reach them – sometimes hundreds of metres. They tend to follow their ancestral migration routes – it's typical for adult toads to return to their natal pond to mate.

Migration Habits

Appropriately enough, the initial amphibians start their journey for a partner around Valentine's day, but some move as late as spring, waiting until it gets dark and travelling after sunset. During that time, toads begin migrating from wherever they have been hibernating "all pretty much at the same time."

One volunteer, who grew up in the area and has been trying to protect 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 road, they could be killed by traffic, and that breeding season would be lost – preventing a new generation of toads from being produced.

Toad Patrols Throughout the UK

Seeing many of toad carcasses on nearby streets "resonates deeply with people," and has led to the formation of toad patrols throughout the UK – 274 groups are currently registered with a countrywide program. These teams pick up toads and transport them over streets in containers, as well as counting the number of toads they encounter and lobbying for other protection measures, such as blocked roads and underground wildlife tunnels.

Volunteers tend to operate during the breeding period, when toad crossings are frequent. However, this means they can miss groups of toadlets, which, having been spawn and then juveniles, leave their water habitats over an irregular timetable in late summer. Because of their small stature – just a couple of cm wide – "they are destroyed 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.

Year-Round Efforts

In contrast to most patrols, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth season of functioning, go out throughout the year – not nightly, but when weather are damp, or if someone has posted about a toad sighting in their messaging app. When I ask to join them on duty, they concede it is "not ideal conditions" – winter dormancy has begun and it's been a dry day – but a few of the helpers willingly accept to patrol their route with me and see what we can find. "If anyone can find any toads tonight, those two will find one," says the group coordinator, pointing to her 14-year-old son and the longtime volunteer. We've been out for 120 minutes without a single toad sighting, and now they have scaled a barbed wire fence to inspect beneath some logs.

Family Participation

The family duo joined the group a year and a half ago. The teenager loves all things wildlife and has an goal to become a conservationist, so his mother started to look for things they could do together to protect local wildlife. Now she enjoys it as much as he does, the middle-aged entrepreneur tells me – so when the group was looking for a fresh coordinator recently, she decided to step up.

The youth, too, has played an important role in the organization. A video he created, urging the municipal authority to block a street through a protected area during breeding time, influenced the outcome the group's way. After a year of lobbying, the council approved an "restricted access" restriction between evening and morning from February through to April. Most drivers respected and avoided the road.

Other Wildlife and Difficulties

Several vehicles go by when I'm out on patrol and we discover some victims as a result – no toads, but three squashed newts. We spot one living newt as well, and the youngster is particularly pleased to see a daddy longlegs, which dances in his hands. Yet despite the team's best efforts to show me a toad, the local population has clearly settled down for the winter. It appears that I wouldn't have had any better success anywhere else in the nation – all the rescue teams I contact explain that it's near-impossible at this time of year.

They project rescuing nearly 10,000 grown amphibians during migration

A message I get from a different helper, who has generously taken the trouble to check for toads in a famous site, considered the biggest tracked toad group in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the subject line: "No toads." However, in February and March, he informs me, the team expects to help approximately 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 doing this regularly on cold, damp and unpleasant late nights is quite extraordinary," says an expert. "This effort 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 traffic is not the only threat.

Other Dangers

The climate crisis has meant extended spells of drought, which create the wrong conditions for some of the creatures that toads eat, such as worms and slugs, while warmer ponds have led to an increase of blue-green algae, which can be harmful to toads. Warmer cold seasons also cause toads to wake up from their hibernation more often, interfering with the energy conservation vital to their existence. Loss of environment – especially the loss of big water bodies – is an additional threat.

Experts are "often concerned about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on biodiversity," however "It's important in just their presence." But toads do have an significant part in the food chain, eating pretty much any invertebrates or small animals they can swallow and in turn feeding a number of predators, such as hedgehogs and otters. Enhancing conditions for toads – such as creating more ponds, protecting forests and constructing amphibian passages – "we'll improve them for a wide range of additional wildlife."

Cultural Importance

Another reason to work to preserve toads around is their "historical significance," notes an expert. Myths and folklore around toads go back {centuries|hundred