Abstract
The number of road traffic accidents decreased in Lithuania from 2002 to 2017, while the ungulate–vehicle collision (UVC) number increased and accounted for approximately 69% of all wildlife–vehicle collisions (WVC) in the country. Understanding the relationship between UVCs, traffic intensity, and implemented mitigation measures is important for the assessment of UVC mitigation measure efficiency. We assessed the effect of annual average daily traffic (AADT) and wildlife fencing on UVCs using regression analysis of changes in annual UVCs and UVC hotspots on different categories of roads. At the highest rates, annual UVC numbers and UVC hotspots increased on lower category (national and regional) roads, forming a denser network. Lower rates of UVC increase occurred on higher category (main) roads, forming sparser road networks and characterized by the highest AADT. Before 2011, both UVC occurrence and fenced road sections were most common on higher-category roads. However, as of 2011, the majority of UVCs occurred on lower-category roads where AADT and fencing had no impact on UVCs. We conclude that wildlife fencing on roads characterized by higher speed and traffic intensity may decrease UVC numbers and at the same time shifting UVC occurrence towards roads characterized by lower speed and traffic intensity. Wildlife fencing re-allocates wildlife movement pathways toward roads with insufficient or no mitigation measures.
Highlights
Systems that record regular road traffic accidents, including those with animals, are continually evolving and becoming highly integrated [1]
We identified ungulate–vehicle collision (UVC), UVC hotspot, average daily traffic (AADT), and fencing change patterns on different categories of roads
We identified relationships between UVCs and UVC hotspots on different categories of roads
Summary
Systems that record regular road traffic accidents, including those with animals, are continually evolving and becoming highly integrated [1]. In the period 2002–2017, over 73,211 road traffic accident records were registered. The number of records decreased from 6090 in 2002 to 3192 in 2017 [3], constituting a 4.2% compound annual reduction (Table A1). In the period 2002–2017, total ungulate–vehicle collision (UVC) numbers in Lithuania have been constantly growing, constituting a 16.4% compound annual increase (Table A1). WVCs present a serious problem and an increasing threat to traffic safety, socioeconomics, animal welfare, and wildlife management and conservation in many countries [4,5,6,7]. The number of WVCs is steadily increasing in many countries [1,8,9,10,11,12] and in Lithuania [2,13]
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