Demon on the Road

Rusty-spotted Cat (Prionailurus rubiginosus)

There’s nothing better than winding up a hectic day with a long peaceful drive, simply to enjoy a pleasant evening with a brisk of subtle cool breeze along with a company of a few friends and loved ones. The traffic is smooth, with no mad hour rush; the drive is coupled with some great conversations, laughs over silly jokes and a general ‘having a good time’ state of mind. Without any warning, the good time is interrupted by a nasty smell and a gory sight of an animal lying ragged on the road, mutilated. What follows immediately after, is a combination of quick reflexes, a brief pause in the conversation, halted breath and an oblivious gaze back on to the road as another car passes by; its driver barely noticing the carnage. After all, animal mortality due to vehicular traffic in India is neither new, nor rare. 

Sirkeer Malkoha (Phaenicophaeus leschenaultii)

A staggering number of animals are killed on our roads every day. It’s not only the feral  animals such as Dogs and house Cats that take the hit, but unfortunately a large number of prominent species of Mammals, Birds, Reptiles and Amphibians are impacted by vehicular collision. Honestly, I was introduced to this facet of the roads in my early years of knowing Vipul, when he shared with me that he spent many years and countless hours during the monsoon transecting roads and monitoring roadkills. Obviously, rescuing the live ones and putting them on the side of the roads was a constant. This is now a regular practice that both of us follow religiously but coming across roadkills is always heart-breaking. Hence, I thought of penning down my thoughts focussing mainly on the urban wildlife. 

Scanning the side of the road for reptiles
to put them at safer locations. 

You must wonder, with all that traffic and movement, what really attracts these animals to the roads. Well, with the rapid human development and encroachment, wildlife faces a huge loss of habitat as well as a change in the habitat extent beyond the road. Resulting in the roads being an inevitable part of their habitat which is utilized for various reasons like a corridor for passage or simply a place for reptiles and amphibians to bask at. The long stretch of roads are also a prolific source of food for mostly all the species. Birds use the roadside gravel to aid their digestion of seeds, mammals come on to the roads to scavenge on carrion and other herbivores are attracted to the vegetation on the edges of the roadside. Frogs and even the nocturnal birds like Owls, pry on the insects that are attracted by the streetlights. Snakes capitalise on it being an easy source of prey on the platter with rodents and frogs lurking around. As for scavengers seeking out roadkills, often end up being roadkills themselves. We have seen Jackals, Owls, Hedgehogs and even Crows coming on to the roads to feed on the carrion. Monitoring roadkills also proves to be an effective method of recording biodiversity. We have been able to record many rare species of reptiles including the Indian Egg-eater, Indian Smooth Snake and Yellow-spotted Wolf Snake. One of our observations in the field was also that the smaller snakes are more prone to being roadkills as compared to the larger ones, since they took more time to get across the road. There’s indeed a lot going on the roads that leads to incidences of roadkills which aren't only a danger to wildlife but also pose a threat to human life and property. 

Indian Smooth Snake (Coronella brachyura)

Yellow-spotted Wolf Snake (Lycodon flavomaculatus)

Common Sand Boa (Gongylophis conicus)

There is a general misconception amongst many that wildlife is found mostly in the areas surrounding a National Park or a Wildlife Sanctuary. But the fact is that, public roads, state highways and the roads especially near a water body are susceptible to an active wildlife corridor. The monsoon season specifically is the peak activity period for wildlife namely, the amphibians and reptiles. During which, they are present on the roads in higher numbers. They’re also slow in reacting to the approaching vehicles and the chances of driver noticing these relatively small creatures over the roads are also less likely. Though larger mammals like tigers and leopards get the bulk of the attention, even smaller mammals like jackals, mongooses, hedgehogs, rusty spotted cats and jungle cats are others among the animals that meet their tragic end. Unfortunately, apart from the data collected through research projects undertaken by individuals and independent agencies, there is no coherent, nationwide data on the species list and their total number of roadkills every year over the roads or even on the railway tracks. 

Great Thick-knee (Esacus recurvirostris)

It is vital to develop a model that identifies ecological hotspots, thereby aiding in categorizing the sections of roads as well as railways lines where high quality habitat, vehicles, and vulnerable species intersect and further utilize it for state-wide transportation planning. There have been similar on-going models and projects undertaken by countries overseas ‘successfully’. There have been websites and mobiles apps created to enable commuters report and record road killed wildlife along with details like type of animal/species, location, time, pictures and any additional details on the traffic condition. These observations are recorded in to the system which assists in generating data that provides an understanding of the contributing factors to road-kill along with necessary information that can help in devising new policies, management decisions and investments required for taking remedial action against roadkills. Apart from going all high tech, the traditional response of public agencies to rail/road wildlife conflicts, has been “mitigation” that is, to build the road but design it so as to minimise its impacts. For example, the roads currently constructed within hilly terrains have wire netting planted on the roadsides in order to reduce erosion and landslides. So, In order to curb the high mortality rate of wildlife, new as well as existing roads can either be relocated outside of critical wildlife habitats or be mitigated to create ‘wildlife crossings’.  Wildlife crossings are structures that allow animals to cross man-made obstacles safely. Wildlife crossings may include: underpass tunnels, flyovers, amphibian tunnels and green roofs. Such structures not only help in habitat conservation but also assist in avoiding vehicular collisions. With the first ever wildlife crossing constructed in France during the 1950s, their success stories have resulted in thousands of wildlife crossings being built in the United States alone over the past 30 years. 

Spotted Owlet (Athene brama)

Spotted Owlet (Athene brama)

These mitigation strategies are definitely for the higher ups to consider since it is a decision to be undertaken on a National level but as an individual, have you ever wondered what you can do to protect wildlife and reduce their chances of meeting a catastrophic end over the roads? There are just a few things that you need to practice and be careful of whenever you venture out on the roads. Remember that with the world’s population expanding, more and more vehicles are unleashed on our wildlife, and your efforts will make a difference in ensuring their safety in a small yet significant way. Follow the speed limits and signposts along the highways that are specifically put up notifying you of the presence of native wildlife residing in the vicinity. Slowing your speed from 100km/h to 80km/h while travelling on local roads may reduce your chances of hitting an animal.  Many animals live in groups or pairs, if one of the members is hurt or killed the incident may directly impact on its group and may jeopardise the survival of other members or mate. Sometimes it’s unavoidable, but other times it’s just a matter of being aware. While driving keep your eyes open for those ‘easily missed’ frogs, snakes or even insects. If you come across a roadkill, try and move the corpse off the road to further avoid scavengers from getting hit, though you must ensure your safety first. Try gaining more knowledge on the issues faced by different species and make note of your observations on the roadkills you come across, a picture added to that will indeed prove helpful. You can also get associated with local groups to spread awareness and educate the public, young children, and our fellow environmentalists about the multiple and far-reaching impacts of roads on wildlife.

We can’t be sure of our roads being 100% safe for our friends from the natural world, but our 100% efforts towards ensuring their safety can at least restrain the dangers faced by them to a certain extent. So the next time you head out for a drive remember “Speed thrills, but kills”.

 Red-wattled Lapwing (Vanellus indicus)

Gravid Garden Lizard (Calotes versicolor)