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Balčiauskas L, Kučas A, Balčiauskienė L. Trends and Characteristics of Human Casualties in Wildlife-Vehicle Accidents in Lithuania, 2002-2022. Animals (Basel) 2024; 14:1452. [PMID: 38791668 PMCID: PMC11117198 DOI: 10.3390/ani14101452] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2024] [Revised: 05/11/2024] [Accepted: 05/12/2024] [Indexed: 05/26/2024] Open
Abstract
We analyzed 474 human casualties in wildlife-vehicle accidents (WVAs) that occurred between 2002 and 2022 in Lithuania, which is a small northern European country. The study revealed the escalating trend of WVAs, since 2018 surpassing other transport accidents, although the number of casualties per WVA was ca. 100 times lower compared to other transport accidents. Moose was the primary contributor, responsible for 66.7% of fatalities and 47.2% of injuries, despite much lower species abundance compared to roe deer, which is the main species involved in WVAs without human casualties. Temporal patterns highlighted seasonal, daily, and hourly variations, with the majority of casualties occurring during dusk or dawn in May and September, on weekends, and between 20:00 and 22:00. Spatially, main roads with high traffic density exhibited the highest casualties per unit length. Most casualties occurred after hitting an animal directly with cars and motorcycles being most vulnerable vehicles. The effectiveness of WVA prevention measures was inconclusive: 9.5% of fatalities and 1.4% of injuries were registered in the area of the warning sign, and 10.4% of all casualties occurred on fenced road segments. These findings suggest the need for a critical evaluation of the current prevention strategies in reducing human casualties associated with WVAs.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Andrius Kučas
- Joint Research Centre, European Commission, Via Fermi 2749, 21027 Ispra, Italy;
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Bíl M, Andrášik R, Bílová M. Wildlife-vehicle collisions: The disproportionate risk of injury faced by motorcyclists. Injury 2024; 55:111301. [PMID: 38158319 DOI: 10.1016/j.injury.2023.111301] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2023] [Revised: 11/21/2023] [Accepted: 12/22/2023] [Indexed: 01/03/2024]
Abstract
We applied a generalized linear mixed-effects model to determine the factors leading to injuries from wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVCs). We used the Police database representing WVCs which took place on the Czech road network between 2009 and 2022. The majority of WVCs in Czechia are with roe deer, followed by wild boar, i.e., both relatively small ungulates. Less than 2 % of these encounters ends with an injury to the motor vehicle occupants. We found that the probability of sustaining injury was systematically higher for motorcyclists than for car occupants. The odds of sustaining an injury during WVC were roughly 1600 times higher for motorcyclists than for car occupants. When applying an evading manoeuvre, the odds of sustaining an injury were approximately 68 times higher for car occupants while only 2.3 times higher for motorcyclists compared to a direct hit to an animal. The lack of helmets (for motorcyclists) and missing seat belts (for car occupants) were additional factors which made the outcomes worse for WVCs. While the acceptance of a direct hit (preceded by braking) seems to be a reasonable strategy for car drivers, WVC awareness (including maintaining a lower speed during critical times and places) should be raised among motorcyclists as both manoeuvres are almost comparably dangerous for them.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michal Bíl
- CDV - Transport Research Centre, Líšeňská 33a, 636 00, Brno, Czech Republic.
| | - Richard Andrášik
- CDV - Transport Research Centre, Líšeňská 33a, 636 00, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Martina Bílová
- CDV - Transport Research Centre, Líšeňská 33a, 636 00, Brno, Czech Republic
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Denneboom D, Bar-Massada A, Shwartz A. Wildlife mortality risk posed by high and low traffic roads. CONSERVATION BIOLOGY : THE JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR CONSERVATION BIOLOGY 2024; 38:e14159. [PMID: 37551769 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.14159] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2022] [Revised: 07/11/2023] [Accepted: 07/13/2023] [Indexed: 08/09/2023]
Abstract
Wildlife mortality due to collisions with vehicles (roadkill) is one of the predominant negative effects exerted by roads on many wildlife species. Reducing roadkill is therefore a major component of wildlife conservation. Roadkill is affected by various factors, including road attributes and traffic volume. It is theorized that the effect of traffic volume on roadkill probability should be unimodal. However, empirical evidence for this theory is lacking. Using a large-scale roadkill database of 18 wildlife species in Israel, encompassing 2846 km of roads over 10 years, we explored the effects of traffic volume and road attributes (e.g., road lighting, verge vegetation) on roadkill probability with a multivariate generalized linear mixed model. A unimodal effect of traffic volume was identified for the striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena), whereas 5 species demonstrated a novel quadratic U-shaped effect (e.g., golden jackal [Canis aureus]). Four species showed a negative linear effect (e.g., wild boar [Sus scrofa]). We also identified varying effects of road attributes on roadkill. For instance, road lighting and roadside trees decreased roadkill for several species, whereas bus stops and concrete guardrails led to increased roadkill. The theorized unimodal effect of traffic volume may only apply to large, agile species, and the U-shaped effect could be related to intraspecies variability in traffic avoidance behavior. In general, we found that both high-traffic and low-traffic roads can pose a high mortality risk for wildlife. It is therefore important to monitor roadkill on low-traffic roads and adapt road attributes to mitigate roadkill. Road design for effective roadkill mitigation includes reducing the use of concrete guardrails and median barriers where possible and avoiding dense bushes in verge landscaping. These measures are complemented by employing wildlife detection systems, driver warnings, and seasonal speed reduction measures on low-traffic roads identified as roadkill hotspots.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dror Denneboom
- Human and Biodiversity Research Lab, Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
| | - Avi Bar-Massada
- Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Haifa, Kiryat Tivon, Israel
| | - Assaf Shwartz
- Human and Biodiversity Research Lab, Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
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Bíl M, Andrášik R, Cícha V, Arnon A, Kruuse M, Langbein J, Náhlik A, Niemi M, Pokorny B, Colino-Rabanal VJ, Rolandsen CM, Seiler A. COVID-19 related travel restrictions prevented numerous wildlife deaths on roads: A comparative analysis of results from 11 countries. BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION 2021; 256:109076. [PMID: 34580545 PMCID: PMC8457751 DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109076] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2020] [Revised: 03/02/2021] [Accepted: 03/09/2021] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
Millions of wild animals are killed annually on roads worldwide. During spring 2020, the volume of road traffic was reduced globally as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. We gathered data on wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVC) from Czechia, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Israel, Norway, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and for Scotland and England within the United Kingdom. In all studied countries WVC statistics tend to be dominated by large mammals (various deer species and wild boar), while information on smaller mammals as well as birds are less well recorded. The expected number of WVC for 2020 was predicted on the basis of 2015-2019 WVC time series representing expected WVC numbers under normal traffic conditions. Then, the forecasted and reported WVC data were compared. The results indicate varying levels of WVC decrease between countries during the COVID-19 related traffic flow reduction (CRTR). While no significant change was determined in Sweden, where the state-wide response to COVID-19 was the least intensive, a decrease as marked as 37.4% was identified in Estonia. The greatest WVC decrease, more than 40%, was determined during the first weeks of CRTR for Estonia, Spain, Israel, and Czechia. Measures taken during spring 2020 allowed the survival of large numbers of wild animals which would have been killed under normal traffic conditions. The significant effects of even just a few weeks of reduced traffic, help to highlight the negative impacts of roads on wildlife mortality and the need to boost global efforts of wildlife conservation, including systematic gathering of roadkill data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michal Bíl
- CDV Transport Research Centre, Lisenska 33a, Brno 636 00, Czechia
| | - Richard Andrášik
- CDV Transport Research Centre, Lisenska 33a, Brno 636 00, Czechia
| | - Vojtěch Cícha
- CDV Transport Research Centre, Lisenska 33a, Brno 636 00, Czechia
| | - Amir Arnon
- Department of Evolutionary and Environmental Biology and the Institute of Evolution, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel
- Ramat Hanadiv Nature Park, Zikhron Yaakov 3095202, Israel
| | - Maris Kruuse
- Department of Geography, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Vanemuise 46, 51014 Tartu, Estonia
| | - Jochen Langbein
- Langbein Wildlife Associates, Greenleas, Chapel Cleeve, Minehead TA24 6HY, United Kingdom
| | - András Náhlik
- Institute of Wildlife Management and Vertebrate Zoology, University of Sopron, Bajcsy-Zsilinszky Sopron H-9400, Hungary
| | - Milla Niemi
- Metsähallitus Wildlife Service Finland, Pohjoispuisto 7, FI-28100 Pori, Finland
| | - Boštjan Pokorny
- Environmental Protection College, Trg mladosti 7, 3320 Velenje, Slovenia
- Slovenian Forestry Institute, Večna pot 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Victor J Colino-Rabanal
- Section of Zoology, Department of Animal Biology, Parasitology, Ecology, Soil Science and Agrochemistry, University of Salamanca, Campus Miguel de Unamuno, 37071 Salamanca, Spain
| | - Christer M Rolandsen
- Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), P.O. Box 5685, Torgarden, NO-7485, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Andreas Seiler
- Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SLU; Grimsö Wildlife Research Station, 73091 Riddarhyttan, Sweden
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Bíl M, Kušta T, Andrášik R, Cícha V, Brodská H, Ježek M, Keken Z. No clear effect of odour repellents on roe deer behaviour in the vicinity of roads. WILDLIFE BIOLOGY 2020. [DOI: 10.2981/wlb.00744] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Michal Bíl
- M. Bíl ✉ , R. Andrášik and V. Cícha, CDV – Transport Research Centre, Líšeňská 33a, Cz-636 00 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Tomáš Kušta
- T. Kušta, H. Brodská and M. Ježek, Czech Univ. of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Richard Andrášik
- M. Bíl ✉ , R. Andrášik and V. Cícha, CDV – Transport Research Centre, Líšeňská 33a, Cz-636 00 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Vojtěch Cícha
- M. Bíl ✉ , R. Andrášik and V. Cícha, CDV – Transport Research Centre, Líšeňská 33a, Cz-636 00 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Hana Brodská
- T. Kušta, H. Brodská and M. Ježek, Czech Univ. of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Miloš Ježek
- T. Kušta, H. Brodská and M. Ježek, Czech Univ. of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Zdeněk Keken
- Z. Keken, Czech Univ. of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
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