Roadkill rates fall dramatically as lockdown keeps drivers at home
As Americans stayed home in March and April, vehicle deaths declined up to 58 percent among large species like mountain lions, a new report says.
As humanity’s hubbub slows due to the coronavirus pandemic, some wildlife is benefiting: Roadkill has taken a precipitous drop in parts of the United States.
During the peak of the lockdowns in March and April, traffic on U.S. roads fell by as much as 73 percent. During that same period, fatal collisions with deer, elk, moose, bears, mountain lions, and other large wild animals fell by as much as 58 percent. Road deaths of dogs, sheep, and other domestic animals show a similar plunge.
"The longer it lasts, the more animals that would have died are not dying," says Fraser Shilling, co-director of the University of California, Davis Road Ecology Center and lead author of the report, which was
