Losses of mammals (Mammalia) and birds (Aves) on roads in the Slovak part of the Danube Basin

Abstract

Mortality of mammals and birds due to traffic accidents was monitored in the Slovak part of the Danube Basin from September 2000 to December 2002. Monitored road length was 32 km. The route was inspected by vehicle or on foot 709 times (total of 22,677 km inspected). A total of 3,009 animal carcasses were found. Of these, 45.5% were mammals and 54.5% were birds. Mammals included hamsters (35.7% of killed mammals), mice (14%), brown hares (13.2%), hedgehogs (8.7%), voles (8.5%), Norway rats (6.1%), domestic cats (4.4%) red foxes (3%), polecats (1.9%), weasels (1.2%), and less than 1% other species. Of the bird carcasses, 42.4% were sparrows, 7.6% pheasants, 5.6% swallows, 5.4% long-eared owls, 4.6% martins, 4.4% collared turtle doves, 4.1% domestic pigeons, and 3.2% fieldfares. On average, 3.6 animal carcasses were found per 1 km of monitored route per month. Seasonal mortality differed both in absolute numbers and with respect to the number of species involved. Losses were highest in summer and lowest in winter. Losses in brown hares reached on average 15.5% (maximum 75%), in roe deer 18.8% (maximum 80%) and in pheasants 3.5% (maximum 22%) of the annual bag. Annual financial losses in the study area with regard to game species were 1.9 million Slovakian crowns. In the district of Galanta, to which the study area belongs, on average 21.4 traffic accidents with game occurred annually; most of these were caused by roe deer. Damage to property amounted to 880,000 Slovakian crowns per year.