Toads, hedgehogs and foxes most frequently run over

A study on wildlife that is killed on our region’s roads has found that toads are the animal most frequently killed by traffic. Hedgehogs and foxes are also regular fatal victims of road traffic accidents. The “Dieren onder de wielen” (animals under the wheels) survey was a joint operation involving the Flemish regional authorities, the wildlife association Natuurpunt and the Flemish Society for the Protection of Birds.

Wild animals often lose their lives as a result of being run over by cars, busses and trucks. 2,000 volunteers collected and correlated a total of 23,574 reports of dead animals that had been run over in a four year period.

The toad (7,118) was the most frequent victim.

The rest of the top 10 is made up of the hedgehog, the fox, the blackbird, the brown frog, the squirrel, the polecat, the rabbit, the stone-martin and the wood pigeon.

The number of fatalities along main roads is higher in West Flanders and Limburg. In the more densely-populated provinces in the middle of the region, animal fatalities are evenly spread between major and minor roads.

Not surprisingly roads that cut through woods and heathland also claim relatively many animal victims.

Those that carried out the research say that temporary and localised measures could help while a long term solution is found.

They suggest a combination of cattle gates and tunnels under main roads. They also suggest carrying out a study into animals that are killed by trains.

Top stories