Elevated wildlife-vehicle collision rates during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sci Rep
; 11(1): 20391, 2021 10 14.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1469985
ABSTRACT
Wildlife-vehicle collisions threaten both humans and wildlife, but we still lack information about the relationship between traffic volume and wildlife-vehicle collisions. The COVID-19 pandemic allowed us to investigate the effects of traffic volume on wildlife-vehicle collisions in the United States. We observed decreased traffic nationwide, particularly in densely populated states with low or high disease burdens. Despite reduced traffic, total collisions were unchanged; wildlife-vehicle collisions did decline at the start of the pandemic, but increased as the pandemic progressed, ultimately exceeding collisions in the previous year. As a result, nationwide collision rates were higher during the pandemic. We suggest that increased wildlife road use offsets the effects of decreased traffic volume on wildlife-vehicle collisions. Thus, decreased traffic volume will not always reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Accidents, Traffic
/
COVID-19
/
Animals, Wild
Type of study:
Observational study
Limits:
Animals
/
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
North America
Language:
English
Journal:
Sci Rep
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
S41598-021-99233-9
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