Impact of COVID-19 Lockdown on Wildlife-Vehicle Collisions in NW of Spain

Abstract

Wildlife–vehicle collisions (WVCs) in many places have a significant impact on wildlife management and road safety. The COVID-19 lockdown enabled the study of the specific impact that traffic has on these events. WVC variation in the Asturias and Cantabria regions (NW of Spain) because of the COVID-19 lockdown reached a maximum reduction of −64.77% during strict confinement but it was minimal or nonexistent during “soft” confinement. The global average value was −30.22% compared with the WVCs registered in the same period in 2019, but only −4.69% considering the average throughout the period 2010–2019. There are huge differences between conventional roads, where the traffic reduction was greater, and highways, where the traffic reduction was lesser during the COVID-19 lockdown. The results depend on the season, the day of the week and the time of day, but mainly on the traffic reduction occurring. The results obtained highlight the need to include the traffic factor in WVC reduction strategies.

Changes in the feeding ecology of an opportunistic predator inhabiting urban environments in response to COVID-19 lockdown

“…Two complementary explanations directly related to the availability of these prey for the urban yellow-legged gulls could explain this behaviour. The reduction in the number of vehicles associated with the lockdown [ 27 , 28 ] probably reduced the number of dead urban birds associated with vehicle collisions [ 69 , 70 ], reducing the availability of bird carcases for urban gulls [ 15 ]. In addition to the scavenging behaviour, the yellow-legged gull also preys on rock pigeons when they are concentrated in large groups of hundreds of individuals feeding on food provided by citizens [ 71 , 72 ].…”

Lockdown’s Silver Lining? Different Levels of Roadkill during the COVID-19 Times in Lithuania

“…Undoubtedly, data on roadkills allow the quantifying of road influence on biodiversity, particularly in higher vertebrates such as mammals and birds, but also, to a lesser extent, reptiles and amphibians [ 25 ]. Mammal roadkills have been found to be related to the day of the week and time of the day [ 24 , 54 ], but changes in animal activity due to climate changes and species abundance patterns should also be considered [ 55 ]. Therefore, in our analysis, we calculated regressions of expected roadkill numbers from data covering the period from 2002 to 2022.…”

“…Many countries have already carried out roadkill analyses in relation to lockdowns [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 ]. However, Lithuania is not on this list.…”

“…Reductions in roadkill rates during lockdown were observed in many countries. In the northwest of Spain, the maximum reduction was 64.8% during the most confined period in 2020, representing a 30.2% reduction compared to the same period in 2019 [ 24 ]. A similar figure, an 80% decrease in wildlife–vehicle collisions during the closure period, was observed in the UK [ 28 ].…”

“…In urban areas, the number of wildlife–vehicle collisions did not decrease, although it did decrease in suburban areas [ 30 ]. The changes in roadkill numbers were found to be associated with the type of road, as the traffic volumes and subsequent reductions due to restrictions varied between road types [ 16 , 24 , 46 ].…”