Animal protection charity Dierenbescherming has called on runners to avoid toad migration routes to prevent them from being trampled to death.

Large numbers of toads are being killed by groups of runners who are showing a total disregard for the annual toad migration which started last weekend, the Dierenbescherming said.

Volunteers who have secured safe passage for thousands of amphibians in Zuid Holland, have reported finding dozens of crushed toads, particularly near the Laan van Poot in The Hague, the location of several athletics and running clubs.

Despite earlier requests to temporarily go somewhere else, some groups have continued to run across the toad migration routes. Runners told the charity they “step over” the toads but the number of dead toads tells a different story, the volunteers said.

The migration of toads, frogs and salamanders takes place roughly between mid February until mid April. Volunteers go out at night to save as many as they can from traffic and now – runners.

The Dierenbescherming is calling on running groups and other road users to choose an alternative route and prevent a “special natural phenomenon from turning into a bloodbath”.