Wildlife Victoria is asking tourists to slow down on the roads this holiday season as each thousands of native animals are killed or injured on Victoria’s roads every year.
Statistics show that traffic is increasingly a significant factor in wildlife injuries and deaths, with 663 calls for road-related wildlife assistance in the same period in 2019-2020 compared to 559 calls in 2018-2019.
Over six weeks in the December 2021 to January 2022 school-holidays, Wildlife Victoria responded to 1131 reports of wildlife injured or killed by vehicles. More than 60 per cent were eastern grey kangaroos and swamp wallabies.
This contrasted with just five cases reported in 2020-2021, when state enforced travel restrictions were in place.
Wildlife Victoria’s tips for keeping drivers and wildlife safe:
- Slow down. Studies from Adelaide University’s automotive safety research centre show that cutting vehicle speed by 10 per cent can reduce vehicle crashes by 20 per cent.
- Avoid driving at dusk and dawn when native animals are most active. Slowing down may give drivers enough time to steer around any animals on or near the road.
- Motorists who hit animals should pull over and call Wildlife Victoria’s 24-hour emergency response service on 8400 7300. The operator will advise the motorist on the next steps, which may include asking the driver to see if the animal has a pouch or dispatch wildlife rescuers to check pouches if necessary.
Wildlife Victoria also has a free travelling vet service that can be sent to assess injured wildlife on site in the outer east of Melbourne.
Donations to increase Wildlife Victoria’s vet service from one vehicle to three can be made at wildlifevictoria.org.au/donate
First published in the Southern Peninsula News – 13 December 2022
