New Zealand Journal of Zoology abstracts
Notes on New Zealand mammals 4. Animal road-kill “blackspots”
RE Brockie
6 Cobb Place, Otaki 5512, New Zealand
RBrockie@xtra.co.nz
Abstract Repeated counts of road-killed
animals have revealed
sites where possums (Trichosurus vulpecula), rabbits (Oryctolagus
cuniculus), hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus), gulls (Larus
dominicanus, L. novaehollandiae) and shags (Phalacrocorax
carbo) were killed in unusual numbers. These “blackspots” were not
correlated with the volume of traffic, but were mapped at or near
places where animals are presumed to crowd together or were most likely
to venture onto the road. For example, in Hawkes Bay, 81% of possum
corpses were counted on or within 200 m of road bridges, and a
disproportionate number of hedgehogs were also killed on bridges or
approaches to bridges. At least in this area, human and animal traffic
blackspots did not coincide. I suggest that this information could be
useful to agencies controlling the spread of tubercular possums, and
the technique of systematic counting of road-kills could be extended to
National Parks and other areas of natural interest.
Keywords blackspot; hedgehog; mortality; New Zealand; possum;
road-kill; wildlife
Z07029; Online publication date 5 October 2007; Received 25 June
2007; accepted 12 September 2007
New Zealand Journal of Zoology, 2007, Vol. 34: 311–316
0301–4223/07/3404–0311 © The Royal Society of New Zealand 2007
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