The highway toad: patrols help amphibian crossings

Hundreds of migrating toads who were at risk of being killed by traffic have been safely relocated to breeding ponds by a special patrol group.

Patrols from amphibian conservation charity Froglife had safely helped more than 379 toads cross a cut through in Hawksland, near Wadebridge, in north Cornwall, project leaders said.

Each mating season, the charity relocates thousands of toads across the UK, helping them safely cross dangerous roads on their way to ancestral breeding ponds.

Andy Smart, from Froglife, said data gathered since early February would help the charity better understand how to protect the declining common toad species.

Smart said Froglife has been running toad patrols since the 1970s, had about 280 groups registered and relocated about 150,000 toads in 2025.

The patrol groups were needed as 17 toads had already been killed in Hawksland as they followed "historic routes" to breed in ponds, he said.

He said: "They do tend to get squashed, unfortunately.

"Obviously, when they started out using the ponds, there were not so many roads around, [not] so much traffic, and so they were much safer."

The toads were picked up by volunteers using vinyl gloves and placed in buckets before being released to continue their journey, the group said.

Smart said the work of the groups was vital to better understand the animals.

He said: "There was a recent scientific publication that showed that common toads have declined by 41% over the last 40 years.

"The data that's collected by our registered patrols is all coordinated and sent back to Froglife and then we share that with scientists who are working on common toads.

"So it's a really important thing that people are doing."

Smart said the toads would migrate for about another three weeks and encouraged people who were interested to volunteer for a patrol group.

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