The Impact of Roadkill on Cervid Populations in Lithuania

Abstract

Cervid roadkill, including moose, red deer and roe deer, can pose a risk to drivers and are frequently registered. However, the roadkill influence on overall cervid populations is not fully known, especially by roadkill that are not officially registered. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of cervid roadkill on population abundance, evaluating (i) the proportion of ungulate–vehicle collisions not registered by official bodies, (ii) the number of roadkill in relation to hunted animals and (iii) the proportion of roadkill that occurs in forest habitat. The number of unreported roadkill was calculated based on a roadkill index assessed during 3815 registration sessions on main and national roads in Lithuania from 2002–2022. During this period, 373 moose, 712 red deer and 9179 roe deer roadkill were unreported, correlating to 13.8%, 95.8% and 31.1% of those registered by the Traffic Supervision Service. In conclusion, 39.5%, 17.5% and 20.1% of roadkill were registered on roads through forests. Moose roadkill amounted to a figure corresponding to 10% of those hunted, with the same figure for red deer being 1.8%, neither adding much mortality. At 16.5%–16.6%, the figure for roe deer might be important.