Wildlife Road Casualty Reporting and Response

Road casualties affect millions of wild animals annually. Appropriate response to injured wildlife and reporting programs provide welfare benefits and valuable population data.

Key Facts

An estimated 30 million vertebrates are killed on UK roads annually representing a massive welfare burden
Many road casualty animals survive the initial impact requiring prompt wildlife rescue to prevent suffering
Injured wildlife should not be handled without appropriate equipment and knowledge due to stress and injury risk
Road casualty data from citizen science programs identifies hotspots informing wildlife crossing construction
Some species including hedgehogs, toads and deer are particularly vulnerable to road mortality

Welfare Considerations

Road-injured animals left without assistance suffer prolonged pain and stress before death. Early identification and appropriate response either through wildlife rescue or humane despatch reduces suffering duration. Public education about appropriate response to road casualties including which species to assist and how to contact wildlife rescue organizations is a high-impact welfare intervention given the scale of road mortality.

What You Can Do

Note the location of road casualty wildlife and contact local wildlife rescue organizations for guidance
Learn basic safe handling for common injured species or how to contain them safely without handling
Report road casualty locations to citizen science projects including Project Splatter and iRecord
Support road casualty data analysis programs identifying hotspots for wildlife crossing installation
Drive more slowly at night and in areas with known wildlife crossing points particularly in autumn and spring