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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.
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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.
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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.
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Indian Smooth Snake (Coronella brachyura) |
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Yellow-spotted Wolf Snake (Lycodon flavomaculatus)
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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.
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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.
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Spotted Owlet (Athene brama) |
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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”.
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Red-wattled Lapwing (Vanellus indicus) |
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Gravid Garden Lizard (Calotes versicolor) |