Monitoring roadkill in Spain: a three years survey during pandemic times

Abstract

AbstractRoad-killed animal surveys are scarce in Spain compared to other countries. Also, the majority of the published papers about this issue, comprehends data analysis from particular species or involve only motorways or highways. This paper presents the monitoring of a common road during three years, from 1stJanuary 2020 to 31stDecember 2022 (both included), in order to evaluate wildlife loss by car hits. At the end of the survey, 53 individuals from 19 different species were found. The most affected groups were mammals with the 75% of car collisions and birds which obtained the 23% of total roadkills. Only one reptile was registered during the sampling. End of spring and summer were the seasons where wildlife was affected in high way, while autumn was the one with less fauna affection. The landscape across the road seems to influence on the biodiversity loss and according to conservation interests, most of the registered animals belongs to endangered or protected species, especially birds and reptiles. Also domestic animals like cats and dogs were directly affected by vehicle collisions. Annual results showed that roadkill data increased along the three years of survey, being 2020 the year with less incidences, probably due to the mobility restrictions established during the COVID-19 crisis.