Common Toad/Jersey Crapaud

Scientific Name: Bufo bufo Animal Type: Amphibian Location: Widespread in the UK and Europe, but in the Channel Islands it is found only in Jersey. Conservation Status: Least Concern

Profile

The common toad (Bufo bufo) is widespread in the UK and Europe but in the Channel Islands it is found only in Jersey. Declines here have been paralleled by similar declines in central and southern England. The toad, which walks or hops rather than jumps as frogs do, is brown or olive in colour and has a warty skin, which tends to be drier than that of frogs.

Toadspawn is usually laid in the spring and in Jersey appears as early as January. It is laid in long strings of perhaps thousands of small black eggs enclosed in clear jelly. It can be distinguished easily from frogspawn, which is produced in small clumps.

Healthy toad populations are important to gardeners and farmers, as they can consume many thousands of insect pests and therefore reduce the need for chemicals. 

The toad, once a familiar sight in island ponds and waterways, is more commonly known in Jersey as the ‘crapaud’ - its name in the local patois, Jerriais. In recent years, however, the crapaud has been disappearing from the natural areas where it was once common, although it is known that many private garden ponds still host healthy populations of toads. For this reason the exact conservation status of the crapaud is unclear, and we need islanders’ help to establish where it is still thriving.

For this reason Durrell initiated the Toad Watch Campaign, encouraging local people to monitor and report the activity in their gardens and ponds. This information allows Durrell to draw a relatively accurate picture of the annual population status of this increasingly rare species.