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Effective Wildlife Roadkill Mitigation



Author(s)

Dion Lester

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DOI:10.17265/2328-2142/2015.01.005

The effects of wildlife roadkill on native animal populations can be significant and the cost to people of wildlife collisions, through road crash injuries and vehicle damage, can be also significant. An understanding of roadkill causes and patterns is necessary for successful management intervention. How animals perceive, use and cross roads can vary significantly from road to road and also between different sections of the same road. This study sought to better understand the features of roadkill and successful mitigation options for a 93 km section of road in Tasmania’s northwest. A program of baseline monitoring, analysis and trial sites informed the development of a risk based strategy for mitigating roadkill. The trial mitigation sites experienced a 50% reduction in roadkill compared with the levels prior to implementation of the trials. A number of simple, low maintenance and cost effective mitigation measures were established and offer road managers elsewhere additional options for reducing roadkill on their roads.

Roadkill, mitigation, wildlife, environmental management, roads, adaptive management