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It is Friday evening at half past seven, but instead of 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 toad patrol. These dedicated individuals sacrifice their evenings to safeguard the local toad population.

An Alarming Decline in Population

The Bufo bufo is becoming increasingly uncommon. A recent research led by an wildlife conservation group revealed that the UK toad population have dropped by half since 1985. Seeing a species that has been a fixture of the British countryside in decline is described as "concerning" by experts. Toads "don't need very particular environments" and "should be able to live quite well 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."

The UK toad population has almost halved since 1985

The Threat from Traffic

Though the research didn't cover the causes for the drop, cars certainly plays a part. Estimates suggest that 20 tonnes of toads are crushed on British roads every year – that is, hundreds of thousands. Unlike frogs, which would probably be content to mate "if you left out a small container," toads prefer large ponds. Their capacity to remain away from water for longer than frogs allows they can journey farther to reach them – often long distances. They usually stick to their traditional paths – it's common for mature amphibians to return to their birth pond to mate.

Breeding Habits

Appropriately enough, the first toads start their journey for a mate around Valentine's day, but others travel 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 hibernating "almost simultaneously."

One volunteer, who was raised in the area and has been trying to protect its amphibians since he was a child, notes that "They've got just one focus: to go and have an orgy." If their route happens to a road, they could all get run over, and that breeding season would never happen – preventing a new generation of toads from being produced.

Toad Patrols Throughout the United Kingdom

Finding many of toad carcasses on nearby streets "resonates deeply with people," and has led to the formation of rescue teams across 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 safety solutions, such as blocked roads and underground wildlife tunnels.

Patrols usually work during the migration season, when toad crossings are frequent. However, this means they can miss groups of young toads, which, having existed as eggs and then juveniles, exit their ponds over an unpredictable schedule in late summer. Because of their size – just a couple of cm wide – "they are destroyed by car traffic." And as being run over "essentially crushes them," it's more difficult to collect information on them. At least when adult toads are killed, their carcasses can be tallied.

Annual Efforts

Unlike many groups, one local team, who are in their eighth season of functioning, go out year-round – not nightly, but whenever weather are warm and wet, or if someone has posted about a toad sighting in their messaging app. When I request to accompany them on patrol, they concede it is "not ideal conditions" – winter dormancy has started and it's been a dry day – but a few of the volunteers willingly accept to walk up and down their area with me and search for any toads. "If anyone can find any toads tonight, that pair 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 barbed wire fence to check under some logs.

Community Participation

The mother and son became part of the patrol a year and a half ago. The youngster adores all things wildlife and has an ambition to become a environmentalist, so his parent started to look for things they could do jointly to help local wildlife. Now she loves it as much as he does, the 41-year-old entrepreneur tells me – so when the group was looking for a fresh coordinator recently, she volunteered for the role.

The youth, too, has played an important role in the group. A clip he made, imploring the municipal authority to close a street through a nature reserve during breeding time, swung the decision the group's way. After a twelve months of lobbying, the authority approved an "restricted access" rule between 5pm and 5am from late winter through to April. The majority of motorists respected and avoided the route.

Additional Species and Difficulties

Several cars go by when I'm out on patrol and we find some victims as a consequence – no toads, but several crushed salamanders. We spot one live amphibian as well, and the teenager is especially excited to see a daddy longlegs, which dances in his palms. Yet in spite of the group's best efforts to show me a toad, the native community has clearly gone dormant for the winter. It seems that I couldn't have found any more luck elsewhere in the nation – all the patrol groups I reach out to clarify that it's near-impossible at this season.

They project rescuing nearly 10,000 grown amphibians during migration

A message I get from a different helper, who has kindly made the effort to look for toads in a noted location, considered the largest accurately monitored toad population in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the subject line: "None found." However, in late winter, he informs me, the team plans to assist around ten thousand adult toads over the street.

Impact and Limitations

How much of a difference can these groups truly achieve? "The reality that people are performing this regularly on cold, damp and unpleasant late nights is remarkable," notes an researcher. "That's something that very much deserves recognition." However, while toad patrols are able to reduce the drop, they can't stop it completely – partly since traffic is not the only threat.

Additional Threats

The climate crisis has resulted in longer periods of dry weather, which cause the poor environment for some of the creatures that toads eat, such as invertebrates, while warmer ponds have caused an rise of blue-green algae, which can be harmful to toads. Milder winters also cause toads to emerge from their hibernation more frequently, interfering with the energy conservation vital to their life cycle. Loss of environment – particularly the loss of large ponds – is an additional threat.

Experts are "always a bit worried about overemphasizing practical benefits on biodiversity," but "There is a big value in just having these animals around." But toads do have an important role in the food chain, consuming pretty much any invertebrates or tiny organisms they can swallow and in turn feeding a number of predators, such as wildlife. Improving conditions for toads – such as creating more ponds, conserving woodland and constructing toad tunnels – "we'll improve them for a whole bunch of other species."

Cultural Significance

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