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It is 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 town in the countryside to meet up with volunteers from a amphibian rescue group. These committed people sacrifice their nights to safeguard the local toad population.

A Worrying Drop in Numbers

The Bufo bufo is growing more uncommon. A recent study conducted by an wildlife conservation group showed that the British common toad numbers have almost halved since 1985. Observing a species that has been a stalwart of the British countryside in decline is labeled "worrying" by researchers. Toads "don't need very particular environments" and "should be able to live successfully in the majority of habitats in the UK," so if even they are not managing to survive, "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 cover the causes for the drop, traffic is a major factor. Calculations indicate that 20 tonnes of toads are crushed on UK roads every year – that is, several hundred thousand. Unlike frogs, which might be happy to mate "with just a bucket of water," toads favor big bodies of water. Their ability to stay out of water for longer than frogs allows they can journey farther to find them – sometimes long distances. They tend to stick to their ancestral migration routes – it's common for mature amphibians to go back to their birth pond to mate.

Migration Patterns

Fittingly, the first toads begin their quest for a mate around February 14th, but others travel as late as spring, until it gets night and travelling through the night. During that time, toads start moving from wherever they have been hibernating "almost simultaneously."

A local helper, who grew up in the area and has been working to save its amphibians since he was a child, explains that "They've got just one focus: to go and have an orgy." If their route crosses a road, they could be killed by traffic, and that breeding season would never happen – preventing a next generation of toads from being born.

Toad Patrols Across the United Kingdom

Finding many of toad carcasses on local roads "resonates deeply with people," and has led to the creation of toad patrols across the UK – hundreds of organizations are currently registered with a countrywide program. These teams pick up toads and carry them over streets in containers, as well as counting the quantity of toads they find and lobbying for other safety solutions, such as blocked roads and underground wildlife tunnels.

Volunteers tend to operate during the breeding period, when toad crossings are more regular. However, this implies they can overlook groups of young toads, which, having existed as eggs and then tadpoles, 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 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 counted.

Annual Efforts

Unlike many groups, one local team, who are in their eighth season of operating, go out throughout the year – not every night, but when weather are warm and wet, or if someone has reported about a amphibian spotting in their messaging app. When I request to accompany them on duty, they admit it is "not ideal conditions" – toad hibernation season has begun and it's been a dry day – but a few of the helpers gamely agree to walk up and down their route with me and search for any toads. "Should anyone can find any toads tonight, that pair will spot one," says the patrol manager, pointing to her teenage child and the experienced member. We've been out for two hours without a single toad sighting, and now they have climbed over a barbed wire fence to inspect beneath some wood.

Community Involvement

The family duo joined the group a year and a half ago. The youngster adores all things nature-related and has an ambition to become a conservationist, so his parent started to search for things they could do together to protect native animals. Now she enjoys it as much as he does, the 41-year-old small business owner tells me – so when the group was seeking a new manager lately, she decided to step up.

The youth, too, has played an important role in the organization. A clip he made, imploring the municipal authority to close a road through a protected area during migration season, swung the decision the group's way. After a year of lobbying, the authority agreed to an "access-only" restriction between evening and morning from late winter through to spring. Most drivers duly avoided the road.

Other Wildlife and Challenges

A few cars go by when I'm out on duty and we find some casualties as a consequence – no toads, but three squashed newts. We spot one live amphibian as well, and the teenager is particularly pleased to see a harvestman, which moves in his hands. Yet in spite of the team's best efforts to let me see a toad, the local population has obviously gone dormant for the colder months. It appears that I wouldn't have had any more luck elsewhere in the country – all the patrol groups I reach out to explain that it's near-impossible at this season.

They project rescuing nearly 10,000 grown amphibians during migration

A message I receive from another volunteer, who has generously 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: "None found." However, in February and March, he informs me, the team plans to assist around 10,000 adult toads across the road.

Effectiveness and Challenges

What level of impact can these organizations truly achieve? "The fact that volunteers are performing this consistently on cold, damp and unpleasant evenings is quite extraordinary," says an expert. "That's something that very much should be celebrated." However, while rescue teams are able to reduce the drop, they can't stop it completely – partly since vehicles is just one danger.

Additional Threats

The climate crisis has resulted in extended spells of drought, which cause the wrong conditions for some of the animals that toads consume, such as invertebrates, while warmer ponds have caused an rise of blue-green algae, which can be harmful to toads. Milder winters also lead toads to wake up from their hibernation more often, disrupting the resource preservation vital to their life cycle. Loss of environment – especially the loss of big water bodies – is an additional threat.

Experts are "always a bit worried about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on biodiversity," but "It's important in just having these animals around." But toads play an important role in the food chain, eating almost any small creatures or small animals they can swallow and in turn sustaining a number of birds and mammals, such as hedgehogs and otters. Improving conditions for toads – ie creating more ponds, conserving woodland and installing toad tunnels – "we'll improve them for a whole bunch of additional wildlife."

Cultural Significance

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