Grey nomads asked to share photos of roadkill

Published: February 25, 2020

With bushfires having killed so much native Australian wildlife, the amount of roadkill seen on our roads is doubly heartbreaking.

The numbers are frightening.

Ten million Australian mammals, birds and reptiles are killed on our roads each year, which means road kill is threatening the survival of native species.

In 2008 a CSIRO and University of Tasmania study put the number of animals killed each year on Tasmanian roads alone at 294,000.

Others put the annual roadkill in the state as high as 500,000. Among the most common animals killed on Tasmanian roads are possums, pademelons, wallabies, Tasmanian devils, wombats and bandicoots

One of the ways that grey nomads can play their part in reducing the carnage is to slow down. Studies show that reducing night-time driving speeds to 80km/h or less vastly increase the ability of drivers to detect an animal and avoid it.

Grey nomads are also now being asked to take photos of roadkill they see. University of Sydney researchers want the images uploaded onto their database to provide insight into the country’s yearly roadkill figures.

The university’s veterinary science researcher Bruce Englefield and his team want Aussies to download the ‘Roadkill Reporter’ app and use it to take and share photos when they find animals killed on the road.

The app is free on iPhone and Android. Each photo taken will be marked with a GPS-time-and-date-stamp anywhere in Australia.

“By getting people involved it will highlight just how serious a problem roadkill is not only for humans and the animals, but also for the environment and conservation,” Mr Englefield said.

  • Are you shocked by the amount of roadkill you see on your travels? Comment below.
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Grey Nomads very rarely drive at night BUT trucks do and you have no idea how many idiots will now stop in the middle of the road to take a photo
We had an IDIOT pull up in the middle of the road in Tasmania just to take a photo of a dead animal and if a vehicle had of been coming the other way it would have been catastrophic

My first thought was I hope this doesn’t cause dangerous behaviour like slowing down or stopping on the road or pulling off in unsafe places.

This has got to be a joke.There is enough accidents cause through dodging wildlife. Now we are being asked to stop and photograph any
road kill we come across. Have they any idea how many times you would have to stop for a r/k photo driving across outback Queensland or the Nullabor Driving at night ? That’s half the reason there is so much carnage of wildlife.The whole suggestion is absurd.

Tried to download but says only for I phone and tablet

If you slow down to 80 from 100 or 110 the chances of falling asleep increases exponentially! At 100 a 5 hour trip is min 5 hours but at 80 it turns into a 6.25 hour trip and maybe an extra stop! Btw 110km will e a 4.5 hour trip so less time on the road and less fatigue.
Another point is if you stop on a highway at night it is an accident waiting to happen!

This is rather like the argument that, as you approach a busy intersection you should’ speed up’ to spend less time in the danger zone. Just a thought.

Completely utterly wrong. The faster you drive the more fatiguing it is. Faster you drive the greater the chance and more severe crash in any conditions.
As far as counting and photographing dead animals completely insane. No wonder the country is going pear shaped with these whacko academics and brainacs with no idea pushing crazy crazy agendas.
Get a grip you people

Between Charleville and Mitchell last November I counted 53 dead roos on a one kilometre stretch.
That’s what I could see easily and only the left side of the road. Right hand side was just as many.
I don’t know about you but I don’t have time to photograph over a hundred dead roos every kilometre.

To me..if all of these animals are dying each year on the roads…I MEAN EACH YEAR…does that not tell you something…there is an abundance of them AND if there wasn’t the numbers WOULD decrease wouldn’t they?? I laugh at the idiot who ask for those so inclinedto take a photo of the road kill…really…seriously??

What a ridiculous suggestion. Have those making this request considered the dangerous situations stopping to take these photos could be created. Having extensively travelled country and outback roads and seen areas of very heavy road kill we do NOT recommend this type of activity.

Why dont these “Uni Experts”put their time to good use and try to find a cure for the tasmanian devil’s predicament. another good idea would be to try and find a birth control pill for the koalas before they all starve to death
Drivers do not hit wild life that they can see. The dead wild life on the roads is a result of that animal jumping in front of the vehicle , not giving the driver the chance to stop. Perhaps these i”experts” with all these idiotic suggestions could look at the mental health issues which are obviously plaguing wild life animals which try to cross our roads

In Tasmania when they release Tasmanian Devils back into the wild after they have been in for treatment they are taken into the bush by car and let go. I am told that food is taken back to them.
The Devils then relate cars as a source of food and go onto roads and are killed by cars traveling through the area.
People from Tassie say that the ones releasing and providing food for them should be walking to where the are released and feed so they do not relate cars a a food source.

Road kill is collateral damage…!

Well if the roo is fresh kill that could be a nice steak or roo tail soup.

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