Wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVCs) are a major public safety and wildlife management issue. WVCs cause human deaths, damage property, and imperil wildlife. In the United States alone, two million collisions with ungulates (like deer and moose) kill approximately 440 people, injure about 59,000 people, and cause more than US$10 billion of economic losses annually. Collisions with moose are especially dangerous due to their large size and height. An international team of scientists, led by the University of Washington, investigated patterns of WVCs with moose in Alaska and Canada. Collisions were 2.4-5.7 times more frequent during winter (December-February) than early summer. Risk was greatest when and where snow depth was less than 47 inches. The analysis suggests that moose migrate into areas with less snow, which increased the risk of collision in those areas. Most (82%) moose-vehicle collisions occurred after dark. This pattern was strongest during winter, when nighttime traffic volumes were 8 times higher than summer due to longer nights (and the very short summer nights of high-latitude summer). This research may help predict times and places where the risk of moose-vehicle collisions is greatest and develop seasonally dynamic mitigation strategies.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
