Overview of animal related-accidents in one of the world’s densest road network region

Poster (2012, October)

With its 4.7 km/km² of public roads, Southern Belgium (Wallonia) has one of the densest road network of Western Europe. This network as well as the observed increase in main game species populations (red ... [more ▼]

With its 4.7 km/km² of public roads, Southern Belgium (Wallonia) has one of the densest road network of Western Europe. This network as well as the observed increase in main game species populations (red deer, roe deer and wild boar) make Wallonia an interesting region for studying the patterns of traffic accidents caused by animals. Moreover, compared to most of European countries, no statistics are available for this area. To shed light on the current situation of wildlife roadkills, the police database of traffic accident statement was thoroughly investigated. Those statements concern accidents that occurred between 2006 and 2010. Each record includes date, time, species involved and information about the location of the accident event. Based on this dataset, we have analysed (i) composition and percentage of involved species, (ii) the consequence (material damages / bodily injuries), (iii) the spatial (type of roads, proximity to landscape features, ‘hot spot’ map) and (iv) temporal (daily, weekly and seasonal) distribution of animal-related accidents. In conclusion future research perspectives are presented. [less ▲]