Common toads are in severe decline in Britain and migrating toads face mass mortality on roads during their annual journey to breeding ponds, creating welfare and conservation concerns that intersect at road crossings.
Toads killed on roads during breeding migrations suffer acute trauma. The migration instinct is so strong that toads continue crossing roads despite high mortality, meaning individuals experience the risk multiple times over their lifespan. Volunteer patrol operations prevent significant mortality and welfare harm by hand-carrying toads across roads during peak migration periods. These operations also gather population data valuable for conservation. Permanent infrastructure including toad tunnels with leading drift fences provides year-round safe crossings without requiring volunteer labour.