Roadkill provide a novel way to sample an area’s animals
They could also show the places where wildlife is most at risk from cars
TRAFFIC AND wildlife do not mix. Anyone who keeps an eye on the verges while driving along a country road knows that. But such carnage does bring zoologists an opportunity. Counting roadkills is a rough and ready way of sampling local animal populations, and is the basis of so-called citizen-science endeavours such as Project Splatter, in Britain, in which members of the public report what they have found dead on the road, and where.
This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “Roadkill stew”
From the May 8th 2021 edition
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