Roadkill Reporter to reduce the incidence of wildlife roadkill

Millions of animals are killed, injured or orphaned every year on Tasmanian roads. See why a new app could be the key to saving them.

Tasmanian Devil at Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary Picture: Linda Higginson

With millions of animals killed, injured or orphaned every year on Tasmanian roads – including up to 450 Tasmanian devils – a new app has been launched to try to reduce the incidence of wildlife roadkill.

Environment Minister Roger Jaensch said the new Tasmanian Roadkill Reporter would allow the location and species of roadkill to be “recorded quickly and easily”.

He said the data collected through the app would be able to identify road kill hot spots so mitigation measures could be taken.

“Nobody wants our Tasmanian native wildlife to be killed or injured on our roads,” he said.

“We know the two most effective methods to reduce roadkill are increasing driver awareness and drivers slowing down in high-risk times and locations.

“Citizen science approaches not only assist in raising awareness and engagement with the issue, but also provide useful information that can assist in reducing roadkill and protecting our wildlife.

Mr Jaensch said data and evidence would help road managers and councils to know where roadkill was concentrated and use their resources more efficiently.

Dr Sam Fox from the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program said between 350 and 450 Tasmanian devils died on the road every year, including young devils.

“They are just the ones that are reported and we believe there are a lot more than that actually killed on our roads,” she said.

“We don’t like to encourage members of the public to actively go and remove road kill from the road because there is a risk to their own health and safety by regularly stopping on the side of the road.”

All species of roadkill including mammals, birds and reptiles, can be recorded on the app.

The Roadkill Reporter app is free to download and use.