Roadkill Mitigation - Protect our Wildlife, ourselves and our Property
29 Jun 2022
Roadkill mitigation is not just about protecting our wildlife. People are killed by animal/vehicle collisions and cars are written off. Tasmania has earned the reputation as the Roadkill Capital of the World. Research has shown that roadkill in this state exceeds levels significantly above the worst areas in the United States.
The effect on our wildlife is horrendous. A conservative estimate is that 400,000 to 500,000 die each year on our roads. A very cruel painful death some lay injured and die slowly and agonizingly. Very often babies in their pouches die too. Do we want to see the extinction of our Tassie Devils go the way of the Thylacine. David Attenborough in his program ‘Extinction’ painted a very dark picture on the loss of biodiversity which in the long run will effect our very existence.
There is a very significant effect on the human population through accident and insurance. It is understood that insurer AAMI handled 21,000 animal collision claims across the country between February 2019 and January 2020. In Tasmania three animal/vehicle collisions were linked to human fatalities between 1993 and 2003 and an average of 7.2 injuries per year during the same period. A large number of single vehicle accidents may have been related to animal interactions – the animals escaped but the humans did not.
So drivers please be aware especially between dusk and dawn and keep your speed down in wildlife zones. Reducing speed by 20 kph in wildlife zones over a 200 km journey will add a mere 3 minutes to your travel and reduce roadkill by 50%. it will give drivers more time to see the animals and the animals more time to see you.
So as an American academic recently said ‘the best thing we can do to protect our wildlife is to stop running over them.' This will also protect us and lower insurance claims.
Contact : Tamar Valley Wildlife Roadkill Initiative
Mob : O478947217
E : tamarvalleyroadkillinitiative@gmail.com