Deer road collisions cause approximately 74,000 incidents annually in the UK, resulting in suffering and death for deer and injury risk for road users.
Deer road collision welfare involves both individual animal suffering — animals killed outright, or injured and dying slowly — and the human safety implications of collisions. Deer struck by vehicles at high speed frequently survive the initial impact with severe injuries and must be located and humanely dispatched by trained personnel. Finding injured deer that have run into cover after collision is a welfare challenge that is not always achieved. Road infrastructure improvements — lighting, fencing, wildlife underpasses at known collision hotspots — address welfare and road safety simultaneously and represent the most effective long-term solutions.