Different approaches to solving wildlife mortality on roads and railways across Europe

Klára Boháčová

Bachelor's thesis

Abstract:

Wildlife mortality on roads and railways is a very common problem. To solve and prevent these problems, there are several types of mitigating measures which differs in price and effectiveness. The aim of this work is to find out how the risk of game collisions can be reduced and registered and to design an ideal plan for the Czech Republic from the gained knowledge. A questionnaire investigation was used to obtain the data. A total of 23 European countries across Europe responded to this questionnaire. The questions were focused on five topics: (I) the method of registering game mortality; (II) deciding on the location of mitigating measures; (III) sources of financing of these measures; (IV) monitoring of their effectiveness; and (V) the actual measures used. The data were compared and shown in charts. The results of the questionnaire survey showed that the best method for registering animal mortality on roads and railways is an electronic system that should at the same time be open to the public and organisations from other countries and operate on the principle of citizen science. Speed limits, warning signs, wildlife crossings and fencing proved to be the most effective mitigating measures in a considerable percentage of cases. When building mitigating measures, we should also look out for small mammals and vertebrates that are part of Europe's fauna. It was also found that in various European countries, estimated numbers of game mortality are indeed inaccurate. An ideal recommendation for the development of the situation would be to improve the system of srazenazver.cz in the Czech Republic or to create new system that will serve the public through citizen science for registering wildlife mortality on roads and railways. These data can be used to determine where the most collisions occur. These can be then identified as collisions hot-spots and mitigating measures can be built on them based on opinion of scientific experts. The most used mitigating measures based on their effectivity should be in particular warning signs, speed limits, wildlife crossings and fencing.

Keywords

Road ecology, European countries, Evidence, Game mortality, Repellents, Reflectors

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 8. 4. 2023

Thesis defence

• Date of defence: 29. 5. 2023
• Supervisor: doc. Ing. Tomáš Kušta, Ph.D.
• Reader: Zdeněk Keken, Ph.D.

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences

Bachelor programme / field:
Forestry / Game Management