Home Spatiotemporal patterns of wildlife road mortality in the Pothwar Plateau, Pakistan
Article
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Spatiotemporal patterns of wildlife road mortality in the Pothwar Plateau, Pakistan

  • Faraz Akrim , Tariq Mahmood EMAIL logo , Shaista Andleeb , Riaz Hussain and Wendy Jane Collinson
Published/Copyright: January 15, 2019

Abstract

The current study investigated the impact of roads on native wildlife fauna in Pothwar Plateau, Pakistan. By conducting driven transects over a period of 24 months (March 2012–February 2014), we identified 131 carcasses resulting from wildlife-vehicle collisions or “road kill”, comprising 18 vertebrate species from seven different orders. The Asiatic jackal (Canis aureus; Linnaeus, 1758) was the most common road kill (37.4%), followed by the small Indian mongoose (Urva auropunctatus; Hodgson, 1836; 9.9%) and the red fox (Vulpes vulpes; Linnaeus, 1758; 8.4%). Road kill incidences included both nocturnal (55.6%) and diurnal species (44.5%). The maximum number of road kills were encountered in the Rawalpindi district area (46.6%), followed by Chakwal (36.6%), Jhelum (8.4%) and Attock (8.4%). The majority of road kills occurred on paved roads (93.9%; 0.009 road kill/km) with significantly fewer occurrences on unpaved roads (6.1%; 0.004 road kill/km). Similarly, 77% (0.009/km) of the road kills were found adjacent to protected areas. The majority of road kills (33%) occurred during the spring (February–April) but less in summer (May–July) and winter (November–January) (19.8% for both). The study provides important data on road mortality of wildlife species in the region bordering protected areas in the Pothwar Plateau, Pakistan, to initiate management and conservation strategies.

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the Higher Education Commission (HEC), Pakistan, for assistance in data collection obtained during the “Ecology of Indian Pangolin in Pothwar region, Pakistan” project; funding was provided by HEC.

References

Adams, L.W. and A.D. Geis. 1983. Effects of roads on small mammals. J. Appl. Ecol. 20: 403–415.10.2307/2403516Search in Google Scholar

Akrim, F., H. Fatima, S.A. Nazir, T. Mahmood, R. Hussain and M.S. Nadeem. 2017. Seasonal hormones, female reproductive tract changes and some field observations on breeding activities of small Indian Mongoose (Herpestes javanicus) from its native range of Potohar Plateau, Pakistan. Turk. J. Zool. 41: 664–673.10.3906/zoo-1512-14Search in Google Scholar

Ashley, E.P. and J.T. Robinson. 1996. Road mortality of amphibians, reptiles and other wildlife on the Long Point Causeway, Lake Erie, Ontario. Can. Field-Nat. 110: 403–412.10.5962/p.357494Search in Google Scholar

Bhutta, I.A. 1999. Achievements and issues in 20th century in Small Dams (Rainwater Harvesting). In the proceedings of national workshop on Water resources achievements and issues in 20th century and Challenges for the next Millennium. pp. 64–69.Search in Google Scholar

Branch, B. 2005. A photographic guide to snakes and otherreptiles and amphibians of East Africa. Struik Publishers, Cape Town.Search in Google Scholar

Braunstein, M.M. 1998. Driving animals to their graves. Animal Issues 29: 22–28.Search in Google Scholar

Bullock, K.L., G. Malan and M.D. Pretorius. 2011. Mammal and bird road mortalities on the Upington to Twee Rivieren main road in the southern Kalahari, South Africa. Afr. Zool. 46: 60–71.10.1080/15627020.2011.11407479Search in Google Scholar

Burbaitė, L. and S. Csányi. 2010. Red deer population and harvest changes in Europe. Acta Zool. Litu. 20: 179–188.10.2478/v10043-010-0038-zSearch in Google Scholar

Cahill, S., F. Llimona and J. Gràcia. 2003. Spacing and nocturnal activity of wild boar Sus scrofa in a Mediterranean metropolitan park. Wildlife Biol. 9: 3–13.10.2981/wlb.2003.058Search in Google Scholar

Caro, T.M., J.A. Shargel and C.J. Stoner. 2000. Frequency of medium-sized mammal road kills in an agricultural landscape in Caliornia. Am. Midl. Nat. J. 144: 362–369.10.1674/0003-0031(2000)144[0362:FOMSMR]2.0.CO;2Search in Google Scholar

Clevenger, A.P., B. Chruszcz and K.E. Gunson. 2001. Highway mitigation fencing reduces wildlife-vehicle collisions. Wildl. Soc. Bull. 29: 646–653.Search in Google Scholar

Colino–Rabanal, V.J., J. Bosch, M.J. Munoz and S.J. Peris. 2012. Influence of new irrigated croplandson wild boar (Sus scrofa) in NW Spain. Anim. Biodiv. Conserv. 35: 247–252.10.32800/abc.2012.35.0247Search in Google Scholar

Collinson, W.J. 2013. A standardized protocol for roadkill detection and the determinants of roadkill in the Greater Mapungubwe Transfrontier Conservation Area, Limpopo province, South Africa. Rhodes University, Grahamstown.Search in Google Scholar

Collinson, W.J., D.M. Parker, R.T. Bernard, B.K. Reilly and H.T. Davies-Mostert. 2014. Wildlife road traffic accidents: a standardized protocol for counting flattened fauna. Ecol. Evol. 4: 3060–3071.10.1002/ece3.1097Search in Google Scholar

Collinson, W.J., D.M. Parker, R.T.F. Bernard, B.K. Reilly and H.T. Davies-Mostert. 2015. An inventory of vertebrate roadkill in the Greater Mapungubwe Transfrontier Conservation Area, South Africa. Afr. J. Wildl. Res. 45: 301–311.10.3957/056.045.0301Search in Google Scholar

Conard, J.M. and P.S. Gipson. 2006. Spatial and seasonal variation in wildlife-vehicle collisions. Prairie Nat. 38: 251–260.Search in Google Scholar

Danilkin, A. and A.J.M. Hewison. 1996. Behavioural Ecology of Siberian and European Roe Deer. Springer, Chapman and Hall, London.Search in Google Scholar

Diaz-Varela, E.R., I. Vazquez-Gonzalez, M.F. Marey-Pérez and C.J. Álvarez-López. 2011. Assessing methods of mitigating wildlife-vehicle collisions by accident characterization and spatial analysis. Transp. Res. D Trans. Environ. 16: 281–287.10.1016/j.trd.2011.01.002Search in Google Scholar

Doncaster, C.P. and D.W. Macdonald. 1997. Activity patterns and interactions of red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in Oxford city. J. Zool. 241: 73–77.10.1111/j.1469-7998.1997.tb05500.xSearch in Google Scholar

Drews, C. 2008. Roadkill of animals by public traffic in Mikumi National Park, Tanzania, with notes on baboon mortality. Afr. J. Ecol. 33: 89–100.10.1111/j.1365-2028.1995.tb00785.xSearch in Google Scholar

Erritzoe, J., T.D. Mazgajski and L. Rejt. 2003. Bird casualties on European roads – a review. Acta Ornithol. 38: 77–93.10.3161/068.038.0204Search in Google Scholar

Estes, R.D. 1991. The behavior guide to African mammals, including hoofed mammals, carnivores, primates. University of California Press, Berkeley.Search in Google Scholar

Fahrig, L. and T. Rytwinski. 2009. Effects of roads on animal abundance: an empirical review and synthesis. Ecol. Soc. 14: 21.10.5751/ES-02815-140121Search in Google Scholar

Fahrig, L., J.H. Pedlar, S.E. Pope, P.D. Taylor and J.F. Wegner. 1995. Effect of road traffic on amphibian density. Biol. Conserv. 73: 177–182.10.1016/0006-3207(94)00102-VSearch in Google Scholar

Forman, R.T.T. 1995. Land mosaics. The ecology of landscapes and regions. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge/New York. pp. 632.10.1017/9781107050327Search in Google Scholar

Forman, R.T.T. 2000. Estimate of the area affected ecologically by the road system in the United States. Conserv. Biol. 14: 31–35.10.1046/j.1523-1739.2000.99299.xSearch in Google Scholar

Forman, R.T.T. and L.E. Alexander. 1998. Roads and their major ecological effects. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Evol. Syst. 29: 207–231.10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.29.1.207Search in Google Scholar

Forman, R.T.T., D. Sperling, J.A. Bissonette, A.P. Clevenger, C.D. Cutshall, V.H. Dale, L. Fahrig, R.L. France, K. Heanue, C.R. Goldman, J. Jones, F. Swanson, T. Turrentine and T.C. Winter. 2003. Road ecology. Science and solutions. Island Press, Washington, D.C., USA.Search in Google Scholar

Garriga, N., X. Santos, A. Montori, A. Richter-Boix, M. Franch and G.A. Llorente. 2012. Are protected areas truly protected? The impact of road traffic on vertebrate fauna. Biodiv. Conserv. 21: 2761–2774.10.1007/s10531-012-0332-0Search in Google Scholar

GOP, Government of Paksitan. 1999. Biodiversity action plan of Paksitan. Ministry of Environment/IUCN/WWF, Islamabad. In. p. 88.Search in Google Scholar

GOP, Government of Pakistan. 2017. Provisional summary results of 6th population and housing census. pbs.gov.pk. Retrieved 24 November 2017.Search in Google Scholar

Grimmett, R., T.J. Roberts and T. Inskipp. 2008. Birds of Pakistan. Yale University Press, Christopher Helm, New Haven, CT, USA.Search in Google Scholar

Groot, B. and E. Hazebroek. 1996. Ungulate traffic collisions in Europe colisiones de trápico con unguladosen Europa. Conserv. Biol. 10: 1059–1067.10.1046/j.1523-1739.1996.10041059.xSearch in Google Scholar

Gu, H., Q. Dai, Q. Wang and Y. Wang. 2011. Factors contributing to amphibian road mortality in a wetland. Curr. Zool. 57: 768–774.10.1093/czoolo/57.6.768Search in Google Scholar

Guinard, É., R. Prodon and C. Barbraud. 2015. Case study: a robust method to obtain defendable data on wildlife mortality. In: (R. van der Ree, D.J. Smith and C. Grilo, eds.) Handbook of road ecology. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., Chichester, West Sussex, UK. pp. 96–100.10.1002/9781118568170.ch12Search in Google Scholar

Gulzar, S., F. Yahya, Z. Mir and R. Zafar. 2012. Provincial analysis of traffic accidents in Pakistan. Academic Res. Int. 3: 365–374.Search in Google Scholar

Haigh, A. 2011. The ecology of the European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) in rural Ireland. PhD thesis. University College, Cork.Search in Google Scholar

Haigh, A.J. 2012. Annual patterns of mammalian mortality on Irish roads. Hystrix, the Italian J. Mammal. 23: 58–66.Search in Google Scholar

Herremans, M., A.J. Tree, V. Parker and C.J. Brown. 1997. The atlas of southern African birds. Birdlife South Africa, Johannesburg.Search in Google Scholar

Hodson, N.L. 1966. A survey of road mortality in mammals (and including data for the grass snake and common frog). J. Zool. 148: 576–579.10.1111/j.1469-7998.1966.tb02972.xSearch in Google Scholar

Hothorn, T., M. Jörg, H. Leonhard, M. Lisa and M. Atle. 2015. Temporal patterns of deer–vehicle collisions consistent with deer activity pattern and density increase but not general accident risk. Accid. Anal. Prev. 81: 143–152.10.1016/j.aap.2015.04.037Search in Google Scholar

Kambourova-Ivanova, N., Y. Koshev, G. Popgeogiev, D. Ragyov, M. Pavlova, I. Mollov and N. Nedialkov. 2012. Effect of traffic on mortality of amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals on two types of roads between Pazardzhik and Plovdiv Region (Bulgaria) – Preliminary Results. Acta Zool. Bulgar. 64: 57–67.Search in Google Scholar

Khan, M.S. 2006. Amphibians and reptiles of Pakistan. Krieger Publishing Company, Malabar, Florida, USA.Search in Google Scholar

Kingdon, J. 1997. The Kingdon field guide to African mammals. A and C Black, London.Search in Google Scholar

Kioko, J., K. Christian, J. Nicole and J.C. Wendy. 2015. Wildlife patterns on a major highway in northern Tanzania. Afr. Zool. 50: 17–22.10.1080/15627020.2015.1021161Search in Google Scholar

Laita, A., J.S. Kotiaho and M. Mönkkönen. 2011. Graph-theoretic connectivity measures: what do they tell us about connectivity? Landscape Ecol. 26: 951–967.10.1007/s10980-011-9620-4Search in Google Scholar

Langbein, J., R. Putman and B. Pokorny. 2011. Traffic collisions involving deer and other ungulates in Europe and available measures for mitigation. In: (R. Putman, M. Apollonio and R. Andersen, eds.) Ungulate management in Europe: problems and practices. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.10.1017/CBO9780511974137.009Search in Google Scholar

Loss, S.R., T. Will and P.P. Marra. 2014. Refining estimates of bird collision and electrocution mortality at power lines in the United States. PLoS One 9: e101565.10.1371/journal.pone.0101565Search in Google Scholar

Mader, H.J. 1984. Animal habitat isolation by roads and agricultural fields. Biol. Conserv. 29: 81–96.10.1016/0006-3207(84)90015-6Search in Google Scholar

Madsen, A.B., H. Strandgaard and A. Prang. 2002. Factors causing traffic killings of roe deer Capreoluscapreolusin Denmark. Wildl. Biol. 8: 55–61.10.2981/wlb.2002.008Search in Google Scholar

Mahmood, T., R. Hussain, N. Irshad, F. Akrim, and M. S. Nadeem. 2012. Illegal Mass Killing of Indian Pangolin (Manis crassicaudata) in Pothwar Region, Pakistan. Pakistan J. Zool. 44: 1457–1461.Search in Google Scholar

Mahmood, T., N. Irshad, R. Hussain, F. Akrim, I. Hussain, M. Anwar, M. Rais and M.S. Nadeem. 2015. Breeding habits of the Indian pangolin (Manis crassicaudata) in Pothwar Plateau, Pakistan. Mammalia 80: 231–234.10.1515/mammalia-2014-0153Search in Google Scholar

Milner, J.M., C. Bonenfant, A. Mysterud, J.M. Gaillard, S. Csanyi and N.C. Stenseth. 2006. Temporaland spatial development of red deer harvesting in Europe: biological and cultural factors. J. Appl. Ecol. 43: 721–734.10.1111/j.1365-2664.2006.01183.xSearch in Google Scholar

Minor, E. and D. Urban. 2007. Graph theory as a proxy for spatially explicit population models in conservation planning. Ecol. Appl. 17: 1771–1782.10.1890/06-1073.1Search in Google Scholar PubMed

Mohapatra, R.K. and S. Panda. 2013. Behavioural sampling techniques and activity pattern of Indian Pangolin Manis crassicaudata (Mammalia: Manidae) in captivity. J. Threat. Taxa 5: 5247–5255.10.11609/JoTT.o3423.5247-55Search in Google Scholar

Prosser, P., C. Nattrass and C. Prosser. 2008. Rate of removal of bird carcasses inarable farmland by predators and scavengers. Ecotoxicol. Environ. Saf. 71: 601–608.10.1016/j.ecoenv.2007.10.013Search in Google Scholar

Rais, M., S. Baloch, J. Rehman, M. Anwar, I. Hussain and T. Mahmood. 2012. Diversity and conservation of amphibians and reptiles in North Punjab, Pakistan. Herpetol. Bull. 122: 16–25.Search in Google Scholar

Riitters, K.H. and J.D. Wickham. 2003. How far to the nearest road? Front. Ecol. Environ. 1: 125–129.10.1890/1540-9295(2003)001[0125:HFTTNR]2.0.CO;2Search in Google Scholar

Roberts, T.J. 1997. The mammals of Pakistan. Oxford University Press, Karachi.Search in Google Scholar

Romero, L.M. 2002. Seasonal changes in plasma glucocorticoid concentrations in free-living vertebrates. Gen. Comp. Endocrinol. 128: 1–24.10.1016/S0016-6480(02)00064-3Search in Google Scholar

Rotem, G., H. Berger, R. King and D. Saltz. 2008. The effect of landscape heterogeneity on home range size and daily activity of Golden Jackals (Canis aureus Linnaeus) in Britania Park, Israel. Annual Meeting of the International Association for Landscape Ecology. p. 9.Search in Google Scholar

Row, J., G. Blouin-Demers and P.J. Weatherhead. 2007. Demographic effects of road mortality in black ratsnakes (Elaphe obsoleta). Biol. Conserv. 137: 117–124.10.1016/j.biocon.2007.01.020Search in Google Scholar

Rowden, P., D. Steinhardt and M. Sheehan. 2008. Road crashes involving animals in Australia. Accid. Anal. Prev. 40: 1865–1871.10.1016/j.aap.2008.08.002Search in Google Scholar

Rytwinski, T. and L. Fahrig. 2011. Reproductive rate and body size predict road impacts on mammal abundance. Ecol. Appl. 21: 589–600.10.1890/10-0968.1Search in Google Scholar

Seiler, A. 2004. Trends and spatial patterns in ungulate-vehicle collisions in Sweden. Wildl. Biol. 10: 301–313.10.2981/wlb.2004.036Search in Google Scholar

Slater, F.M. 2002. An assessment of wildlife road casualties – the potential discrepancy betwen numbers counted and numbers killed. Web Ecol. 3: 33–42.10.5194/we-3-33-2002Search in Google Scholar

Spellerberg, I.F. 1998. Ecological effect of roads and traffic: a literature review. Glob. Ecol. Biogeog. Lett. 7: 317–333.10.1046/j.1466-822x.1998.00308.xSearch in Google Scholar

Steiner, W., F. Leisch and K. Hacklander. 2014. A review on the temporal pattern of deer-vehicle accidents: impact of seasonal, diurnal and lunar effects in cervids. Accid. Anal. Prev. 66, 168–181.10.1016/j.aap.2014.01.020Search in Google Scholar

Sullivan, B.K. 1981. Observed differences in body temperature and associated behavior of four snake species. J. Herpetol. 15: 245–246.10.2307/1563390Search in Google Scholar

Trombulak, S.C. and C.A. Frissell. 2000. Review of ecological effects of roads on terrestrial and aquatic communities. Conserv. Biol. 14: 8–30.10.1046/j.1523-1739.2000.99084.xSearch in Google Scholar

van der Zande, A.N., W.J. ter Keurs and W.J. van der Weijden. 1980. The impact of roads on the densities of four bird species in an open field habitat: evidence of a long distance effect. Biol. Conserv. 18: 299–321.10.1016/0006-3207(80)90006-3Search in Google Scholar

Zimmerman, D.A., D.A. Turner and D.J. Pearson. 1999. Birds of Kenya and northern Tanzania. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA.Search in Google Scholar

Received: 2017-08-04
Accepted: 2018-11-15
Published Online: 2019-01-15
Published in Print: 2019-08-27

©2019 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Ecology
  3. Using reliable predator identification to investigate feeding habits of Neotropical carnivores (Mammalia, Carnivora) in a deforestation frontier of the Brazilian Amazon
  4. Dietary overlap of two sympatric African mongoose species in an urban environment
  5. Contrasting variations in the diet of the Andean fox Lycalopex culpaeus Molina, 1782 on geographical and environmental scales in the Atacama Desert
  6. First telemetry data on wild individuals from the threatened, isolated Italian otter (Lutra lutra) population
  7. The status of the Dutch polecat population: correction of a recently published error
  8. Food habits of the Japanese serow (Capricornis crispus) in an alpine habitat on Mount Asama, central Japan
  9. Roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) mortality in relation to fodder harvest in agricultural landscape
  10. Predicting the potential distribution of the lesser-known endemic Madras hedgehog Paraechinus nudiventris (Order: Eulipotyphla, Family: Erinaceidae) in southern India
  11. Direct observations of vertebrate killing and consumption by the endangered Pyrenean desman (Galemys pyrenaicus)
  12. Who is the killer? Barking up the wrong tree
  13. Conservation
  14. Spatiotemporal patterns of wildlife road mortality in the Pothwar Plateau, Pakistan
  15. Biogeography
  16. Discovery of the bank vole (Myodes glareolus) on Ushant Island (Brittany, France)
  17. Taxonomy/phylogeny
  18. New data on the bats (Chiroptera) of Martinique island (Lesser Antilles), with an emphasis on sexual dimorphism and sex ratios
  19. New record of Hipposideros speoris (Chiroptera: Hipposideridae) from Myanmar hidden in the National Zoological Collections of the Zoological Survey of India
Downloaded on 1.10.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/mammalia-2017-0101/html
Scroll to top button