Plea for ‘toes of dead toads’ to help explain their decline

ACADEMICS studying toads have asked people to cut the toes off dead amphibians to help examine why their numbers are in decline.

Researchers are also urging the public to collect mouth swabs from creatures that are alive.

The call comes amid uncertainty surrounding the dwindling numbers of toads across the UK, especially in England. Referring to volunteers as “wildlife detectives”, the team behind the PHD project at the University of Wolverhampton and University of Salford have asked for the tips of toes of dead toads to be removed for analysis.

Rémi Martin, a PHD candidate who will be working on the project, said: “We are really interested in having as many people from across the UK helping to collect as many genetic samples as possible. These samples can be in the form of ‘toe-tips’ from toads killed on roads or buccal swabs from live toads. If people want to get involved, then they should email us and we will send out a sampling pack.”

Dr Simon Maddock, a lecturer in conservation genetics at Wolverhampton, said: “We are unsure about the reasons for the decline, although factors could include destruction of habitat, road mortality, disease, pollution and pesticides.

“We know some populations have fallen in huge numbers and the project will further investigate the causes and consequences of these declines.”

The study is being carried out in partnership with Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (ARC).

Dr John Wilkinson, who is supervising the project and works on behalf of ARC, said: “We will use DNA samples to look at how genetic diversity in toad populations may have changed over time or by area, how this may be affecting some populations in the modern landscape, and how declines might be addressed through conservation.”