Vehicle collisions kill enormous numbers of wildlife annually, but evidence-based infrastructure solutions including wildlife crossings, fencing, and warning systems can dramatically reduce this welfare burden.
Wildlife roadkill represents a massive welfare burden that is largely invisible to society because it occurs at high speed on isolated road sections with no witnesses. The suffering of animals that survive initial vehicle impact but die slowly from injuries over hours to days is significant and largely unacknowledged. Infrastructure solutions — particularly underpasses and overpasses with guiding fencing — have proven remarkably effective where implemented and are cost-effective when compared to the long-term wildlife and collision costs they prevent. The challenge is primarily one of political will and funding allocation rather than technical uncertainty.