South Africa’s carnivores – at risk from roads!
By Wendy Collinson, Project Executant of the EWT’s Roadkill Research and Mitigation Project
As the swelling human tide engulfs ever more natural habitat, the geographical range of carnivores,
large and small, is shrinking and populations are becoming fragmented. Lions and Leopards have
captured the imagination of tourists, and seeing these animals in their natural environment is an
important reason to visit Africa’s protected areas. Yet few visitors realise how vulnerable these and
other species are. Carnivores tend to live at low densities and in small populations, making them
blueprints for local extinction.
The decline of carnivore populations is a global problem. From Asia and Africa to the Americas, cats,
dogs and bears suffer from the multiple pressures of habitat fragmentation, hunting, domestic
disease and commercial markets for body parts. Tigers, certain Asiatic Black Bears, Jaguars, and
African Wild Dogs all face the prospect of extinction. But there is another threat to our country’s
wildlife, one that some scientists rank as among the top ten threats to carnivores. Whilst it is not a
key threat, more and more animals are being killed on roads and so roadkill is an emerging threat for
carnivores.
Roads fragment habitats and populations and hinder the movement of animals, often isolating
populations into smaller, less functional, groups. This can have quite negative impacts on the health
and viability of the population as a whole.
The EWT’s Wildlife and Transport Programme (WTP) liaise closely with many other EWT
programmes, particularly as animals are killed on roads, irrespective of what species they are. One
such programme that the WTP collaborates closely with is the EWT’s Carnivore Conservation
Programme (CCP). Reports of carnivores killed on the road are forwarded to the ‘carnivore team’,
who are often able to utilise the data in managing aspects of the Cheetah and Wild Dog
Metapopulations.
So what carnivores are at risk?
Bat-eared Foxes seem particularly vulnerable to roads. An EWT volunteer collecting roadkill data on
route to the Kalahari reported 38 Bat-eared Fox road fatalities over a two-day period. Further
reports have come in from across the country, often with incidences of family groups killed at the
same time.
African Wild Dog roadkill has also been reported from across the country, and with approximately
450 left in South Africa, this species can ill-afford further loss on roads. Furthermore, two recent
reports from northern Limpopo caused much upset to visitors when two Leopards were hit and
killed on the road. Other carnivore species that have received much notice are African Civet,
Aardwolf and Striped Polecat, all of which tend to live at low densities, but are common roadkill. A
colleague from North West Park and Tourism Board recently reported a Serval roadkill – quite
unusual, and listed as a Threatened and Endangered (ToPs) species.
But why are carnivores so at risk from roads? Very often they forage on roadsides, or feed on
existing roadkill, resulting in them also becoming a road mortality. In addition, many carnivores use
roads as part of their natural routes, since road surfaces are generally more pleasant to walk on.
These sombre findings aren’t what this article is all about. In fact it’s about what can be done. Based
on existing methods applied elsewhere in the world, it is apparent there are solutions. One example
is the use of roadside fencing, used to direct animals to cross the road using culverts – part of the
existing road structure. Plans to implement this method are already underway in northern Limpopo,
where 1121 roadkill were found over a 120-day period.
The WTP also recently launched a new project using the public to take note of and report wildlife
deaths in natural parks. Pilanesberg National Park in North West Province, which is the third most
frequented park by international and national visitors alike, is the first South African park to support
the initiative. Here we have already received reports of many species killed on the road, including
Leopard and zebra. What makes this project so novel, unique and innovative in its design is that it
will be a first globally to assess the value of using the public as a system of roadkill data reporting.
Our initial work in May 2014 indicates that the public are very willing to contribute – of 234
questionnaire surveys that we tried to conduct that month 207 park visitors agreed to help.
To galvanise public participation to this process, the EWT has taken to the internet to get people to
report wildlife fatalities and has received reports from as far afield as Namibia and Botswana, and
even Tanzania. To assist people to easily submit data the EWT has recently launched a cellular
Smartphone app, Road Watch, which allows data to be quickly and accurately captured.
If, during your travels, you spot any roadkill on our roads please record your sighting via our cell
phone app, Road Watch South Africa, and the EWT will use the data you share in their work to
reduce the impacts of transport on our wildlife. The app has been designed to simplify data
collection. Just with a click of a button you will send us a photo of the incident, as well as the date
time and GPS co-ordinates. To take part simply type this link into the Safari browser on your Android
platform phone: http://www.prismsw.com/roadwatch/android/RoadWatchSouthAfrica.apk. The
app is also available for Apple – simply search for Road Watch. For further information please
contact Wendy Collinson on [email protected]