Given the dense transportation network of roadways in the U.S., conflicts between vehicles and wildlife are common.
Highways and roadways create barriers to animal movements, which result in fragmented habitats, disrupted gene flows and elevated wildlife mortality as animals attempt to cross. Many endangered species are threatened by roadway mortality.
But the problem is not limited to wildlife. Every year, vehicle-wildlife collisions are responsible for 200 human deaths, 2,600 injuries and more than $8 billion in property damage and medical costs in the U.S. alone.
As awareness of this issue has grown, biologists, engineers, political jurisdictions and the public have been working together to mitigate these issues. Psomas recently applied this multidisciplinary process to four road projects that invested more than $10 million to avoid vehicle-wildlife conflicts in Arizona.
The process usually starts by performing a wildlife mortality study. Biologists then conduct field surveys of wildlife tracks and mortality. Finally, the information is analyzed to identify “mortality hot spots” for one or more species.