ABSTRACT
Vehicles on roads (and trains on railway lines) are the cause of animal mortalities. Seeing a dead animal on or beside a road (or railway line) is not an uncommon sight in any country of the world. Occasionally these are domesticated animals such as cats, dogs or sheep. Most animal mortalities on roads (and railway lines, especially in rural areas and forested areas) are wild animals, however: birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians (Fig. 6.1). While a dead possum on a road in New Zealand evokes little concern, a dead elephant beside a road or railway line in India (Fig. 6.1) or a dead koala on a roadside in Australia is likely to prompt considerable distress. Interestingly, as mentioned earlier, the first prize for a world press photographic award (nature and environment category) was awarded in 2001 for a picture of a dead lizard's tail lying on a road in Australia.
