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It is Friday evening at 7:30, but instead of heading to the pub or watching a film, I've taken a train to a market town in the countryside to meet up with volunteers from a toad patrol. These committed people sacrifice their evenings to protect the native amphibian community.

A Worrying Drop in Numbers

The Bufo bufo is growing more uncommon. A latest study led by an amphibian and reptile charity revealed that the UK toad population have dropped by half since the mid-1980s. Observing a species that has been a fixture of the British countryside in decline is described as "concerning" by experts. Toads "don't need very specific conditions" and "should be able to live quite well in the majority of areas in Britain," 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 decline, cars certainly plays a part. Calculations suggest that 20 tonnes of toads are killed on British roads annually – that is, hundreds of thousands. Unlike frogs, which would probably be content to mate "with just a small container," toads favor big bodies of water. Their ability to remain away from water for more time than frogs means they can travel further to reach them – sometimes long distances. They usually stick to their traditional paths – it's typical for mature amphibians to return to their birth pond to mate.

Breeding Habits

Fittingly, the initial amphibians begin their quest for a partner around Valentine's day, but others travel as far as spring, until it gets night and travelling through the night. During that time, toads start moving from wherever they have been hibernating "all pretty much at the same time."

One volunteer, who was raised in the area and has been trying to protect 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 be lost – preventing a new generation of toads from being produced.

Rescue Groups Across the UK

Finding hundreds of dead toads on nearby streets "inherently strikes a chord with people," and has led to the formation of toad patrols across the UK – hundreds of organizations are officially listed with a national initiative. These groups pick up toads and transport them over streets in containers, as well as counting the quantity of toads they encounter and lobbying for other protection measures, such as road closures and underground wildlife tunnels.

Volunteers tend to operate during the migration season, when toad crossings are frequent. However, this means they can overlook numbers of young toads, which, having existed as spawn and then tadpoles, leave their water habitats over an unpredictable schedule in late summer. Because of their size – just one or two centimetres wide – "they are destroyed by car traffic." And as being hit "essentially crushes them," it's harder to get data on them. At least when adult toads are killed, their remains can be counted.

Annual Efforts

Unlike most patrols, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth year of operating, go out year-round – not nightly, but when conditions are damp, 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 a toady night" – toad hibernation season has begun and it's been a arid period – but a few of the volunteers gamely agree to walk up and down their area with me and see what we can find. "Should anyone can find any toads tonight, those two will spot one," says the group coordinator, pointing to her 14-year-old son and the longtime volunteer. 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 Participation

The mother and son joined the patrol a while back. The youngster adores all things wildlife and has an ambition to become a conservationist, so his parent started to look for activities they could do jointly to protect native animals. Now she loves it as much as he does, the middle-aged small business owner explains – so when the team was looking for a fresh coordinator recently, she volunteered for the role.

The youth, too, has been instrumental in the group. A video he created, urging the municipal authority to close a street through a nature reserve during breeding time, swung the decision the group's way. After a year of lobbying, the council approved an "access-only" rule between 5pm and 5am from February through to spring. Most drivers respected and avoided the road.

Additional Species and Challenges

Several cars go by when I'm out on duty and we discover some victims as a result – no toads, but several crushed salamanders. We see one living newt as well, and the youngster is particularly pleased to see a harvestman, which dances in his hands. Yet in spite of the team's best efforts to show me a toad, the native community has clearly settled down for the winter. It seems that I couldn't have found any more luck anywhere else in the nation – all the rescue teams I contact clarify that it's very difficult at this season.

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

A message I receive from another volunteer, who has generously taken the trouble to check for toads in a noted location, thought to be the largest accurately monitored toad group in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the title: "No toads." However, in February and March, he tells me, the team plans to assist around ten thousand mature amphibians across the road.

Impact and Challenges

How much of a difference can these groups actually make? "The fact that volunteers are performing this consistently on chilly, wet and miserable late nights is remarkable," says an expert. "This effort that very much deserves recognition." However, while rescue teams are able to slow the decline, they can't stop it completely – not least because traffic is not the only threat.

Other Dangers

The global warming has meant extended spells of dry weather, which cause the poor environment for some of the creatures that toads consume, such as invertebrates, while higher water temperatures have led to an rise of blue-green algae, which can be harmful to toads. Warmer cold seasons also cause toads to wake up from their hibernation more frequently, disrupting the resource preservation crucial to their life cycle. Loss of environment – particularly the disappearance of big water bodies – is an additional threat.

Experts are "always a bit worried about overemphasizing practical benefits on biodiversity," however "It's important in just their presence." But toads play an significant part in the food chain, consuming almost any small creatures or small animals they can fit in their mouths and in turn feeding a variety of predators, such as hedgehogs and otters. Improving situations for toads – ie building water habitats, conserving woodland and constructing amphibian passages – "we'll improve them for a wide range of other species."

Cultural Significance

An additional motive to try to keep toads present is their "historical significance," notes an expert. Legends and tales around toads go back {centuries|hundred