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Amphibians are
already beginning to breed in some areas of Britain, and in a timely move the
amphibian charity Froglife has unveiled a new weapon in the battle to conserve
the common toad (Bufo bufo).
Every year,
toads migrate en masse to their annual breeding pools between
February and April. A single migrating colony may contain upwards of a
thousand individuals. Unfortunately the dusk migrations, which
inevitably cross roads, typically coincide with the human rush
hour. For over two decades, the ‘Toads of Roads’ scheme has relied on
the help of committed volunteers to reduce road mortality in this
declining species. These dedicated individuals warn motorists of the
danger to the animals at designated ‘toad crossings’, and physically
move toads to the other side of the road. Over 35,000 animals were
rescued in this way in 2008.
The new
initiative follows the first-ever satellite mapping of the more than 700
registered toad crossings throughout Britain. By making this map
available to the general public through an update to Google Earth,
Froglife hopes to keep interested individuals informed about their
nearest crossing sites, and to encourage participation in the scheme.
By installing
the Toads on Roads .kmz file, prospective volunteers will gain access to
an information network that not only shows the location of registered
toad crossings, but also whether those sites are known to be active
(still used by toads) and the number of amphibians rescued at each site
in 2008.
The new map may
also help to identify areas where new toad crossings might be needed. In
2008 alone 36 new toad crossing sites were registered, but crucially the
status of many existing toad crossings registered over the past twenty
years is unknown.
If you are aware
of any sites where toads cross roads during their migration to breeding
ponds that are either not on the map or not listed as active, please
contact Froglife to help update the Toads on Roads records or to
register new toad crossings.
For further
information on the Toads on Roads scheme or to download the Toads on
Roads map, visit
www.froglife.org/toadsonroads.
To download
Google Earth for free, visit Google
Earth.
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