Wildlife at the crossroads: wild animal road kills due to vehicular collision on a mountainous highway in northwestern Himalayan region
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Wildlife mortality due to vehicular collision is well known across the world and the number of such incidences is steadily rising in Himalaya as well. To assess the quantum of wildlife road kills, we conducted an intensive survey spanning 33 months along a mountainous National Highway 244 in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir. Forty-nine wild animal carcasses of 13 species of higher vertebrates were observed lying on the road, shoulders, edges, and valley slopes. These included seven mammals, four birds, and two reptiles. This survey, first of its kind in this part of the Himalaya would be helpful in understanding the underlying reasons of the rising wildlife fatalities on the hill roads, identifying susceptible hotspots, and developing measures to address this new threat to Himalayan wildlife. We recommend creating wildlife passages, raising speed halters, and placing warning signages in vulnerable sections to reduce the road-related wildlife mortality in such mountainous highways.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors own the copyright to the articles published in JoTT. This is indicated explicitly in each publication. The authors grant permission to the publisher Wildlife Information Liaison Development (WILD) Society to publish the article in the Journal of Threatened Taxa. The authors recognize WILD as the original publisher, and to sell hard copies of the Journal and article to any buyer. JoTT is registered under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY), which allows authors to retain copyright ownership. Under this license the authors allow anyone to download, cite, use the data, modify, reprint, copy and distribute provided the authors and source of publication are credited through appropriate citations (e.g., Son et al. (2016). Bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) of the southeastern Truong Son Mountains, Quang Ngai Province, Vietnam. Journal of Threatened Taxa 8(7): 8953–8969. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.2785.8.7.8953-8969). Users of the data do not require specific permission from the authors or the publisher.
References
Baskaran, N. & D. Boominathan (2010). Road kills of animals by highway traffic in the tropical forest of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, southern India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 2(3): 753–759. https://doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o2101.753-9
Bhupathy, S., G. Srinivas, N. Sathish, T. Karthik & A. Madhivanan (2011). Herpetofaunal mortality due to vehicular traffic in the Western Ghats, India: a case study. Herpetotropicos 5: 119–126.
Buchi, L. & S. Vuilleumier (2014). Coexistence of specialist and generalist species is shaped by dispersal and environmental factors. American Naturalist 183: 612–624. https://doi.org/10.1086/675756
Burnett, S. (1992). Effects of a rainforest road on movements of small mammals: mechanisms and implications. Wildlife Research 19: 95–104. https://doi.org/10.1071/WR9920095
Carr, L.W. & L. Fahrig (2001). Impact of road traffic on two amphibian species of differing vagility. Conservation Biology 15: 1071–1078. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1523-1739.2001.0150041071.x
Carvalho, F. & A. Mira (2010). Comparing annual vertebrate road kills over two time periods, 9 years apart: a case study in Mediterranean farmland. European Journal of Wildlife Research 57: 157–174. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-010-0410-0
Chen, H.-L., E.E. Posthumus & J.L. Koprowski (2021). Potential of small culverts as wildlife passages on forest roads. Sustainability 13: 7224. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13137224
Coulson, G. (1982). Road kills of macropods on a section of highway in central Victoria. Australian Wildlife Research 9: 21– 26. https://doi.org/10.1071/WR9820021
Das, A., M.F. Ahmed, B.P. Lahkar & P. Sharma (2007). A preliminary report of reptilian mortality on road due to vehicular movements near Kaziranga National Park, Assam, India. Zoos’ Print Journal 22(7): 2742–2744. https://doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.ZPJ.1541.2742-4
Desai, A.A. & N. Baskaran (1998). Ecology of Malabar Giant Squirrel (Ratufa indica) in Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary, South India. Technical Report Bombay Natural History Society, Bombay.
Dickerson, L.M. (1939). The problem of wildlife destruction by automobile traffic. Journal of Wildlife Management 3: 104–116. https://doi.org/10.2307/3796352
Gaynor, K.M., C.E. Hojnowski, N.H. Carter & J.S. Brashares (2018). The influence of human disturbance on wildlife nocturnality. Science 360: 1232–1235. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aar7121
Gokula, V. (1997). Impact of vehicular traffic on snakes in Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary. Cobra 27: 26
Sunder, K.S.G. (2004). Mortality of herpetofauna, birds and mammals due to vehicular traffic in Etawah district, Uttar Pradesh. India. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 103(3): 392–398.
Hatti, S.S. & H. Mubeen (2019). Roadkill of animals on the road passing from Kalaburagi to Chincholi, Karnataka, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 11(7): 13868–13874. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.4292.11.7.13868-13874
Hill, J.E., T.L. DeVault & J.L. Belant (2019). Cause‐specific mortality of the world’s terrestrial vertebrates. Global Ecology and Biogeography 28: 680–689. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.12881
Kumar, G.C. & C. Srinivasulu (2015). Impact of vehicular traffic on Kashmir Rock Agama Laudakia tuberculata (Gary, 1827) near Kalatop-Khajjiar Wildlife Sanctuary, Chamba, Himachal Pradesh, India. Reptile Rap 17: 44–47.
Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (2021). https://morth.nic.in/ (accessed on 07-11-2021)
Newmark, W.D., J.I. Boshe, H.I. Sariko & G.K. Makumbule (1996). Effects of highway on large mammals in Mikumi National Park, Tanzania. African Journal of Ecology 34: 15–31. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2028.1996.tb00590.x
Reijnen, R., R. Foppen, C.T. Braak & J. Thissen (1995). The effects of car traffic on breeding bird populations in woodland III: Reduction of density in relation to the proximity of main roads. Journal of Applied Ecology 32: 187–202. https://doi.org/10.2307/2404428
Richardson, J.H., R.F. Shore, J.R. Treweek & S.B.C. Larkin (1997). Are major roads a barrier to small mammals? Journal of Zoology 243: 840–846. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1997.tb01982.x
Samson, A., B. Ramakrishnan, A. Veeramani, P. Santhoshkumar, S. Karthick, G. Sivasubramanian, M. Ilakkia, A. Chitheena, J.L. Princy & P. Ravi (2016). Effect of vehicular traffic on wild animals in Sigur Plateau, Tamil Nadu, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 8(9): 9182–9189. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.1962.8.9.9182-9189
Santhoshkumar, S., P. Kannan, A. Veeramani, A. Samson, S. Karthick & J. Leonaprincy (2017). A preliminary report on the impact of road kills on the herpetofauna species in Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 9(3): 10004–10010. http://doi.org/10.11609/jott.3001.9.3.10004-10010
Schwartz, A.L.W., F.M. Shilling & S.E. Perkins (2020). The value of monitoring wildlife roadkill. European Journal of Wildlife Research 66: 18. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-019-1357-4
Seshadri, K.S., A. Yadav & K.V. Gururaja (2009). Road kills of amphibians in different land use areas from Sharavathi river basin, central Western Ghats, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 1(11): 549–552. https://doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o2148.549-52
Taylor, B.D. & R.L. Goldingay (2003). Cutting the carnage: wildlife usage of road culverts in north-eastern New South Wales. Wildlife Research 30: 529–537. https://doi.org/10.1071/WR01062
Taylor, B.D. & R.L. Goldingay (2010). Roads and wildlife: impacts, mitigation and implications for wildlife management in Australia. Wildlife Research 37: 320–331. https://doi.org/10.1071/WR09171
Thapa, A., P.K. Pradhan, B.D. Joshi, T. Mukherjee, M. Thakur, K. Chandra & L.K. Sharma (2021). Non-protected areas demanding equitable conservation strategies as of protected areas in the Central Himalayan region. PLoS ONE 16(8): e0255082. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0255082
Vestjens, W.J.M. (1973). Wildlife mortalities on a road in New South Wales. Emu - Austral Ornithology 73: 107–112. https://doi.org/10.1071/MU973107