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Tasmanian study shows tens of thousands of animals killed on roads

Daniela PizziraniNCA NewsWire
Not Supplied
Camera IconNot Supplied Credit: News Corp Australia

More animals die on Tasmanian roads than in any other Australian state, a new study has claimed.

Data collected by the Save the Tasmanian devil Program has shown nearly 60,000 animals were killed in road-related incidents since the government launched a smartphone app three years ago.

The grim figures show an average of 32 animals die every hour on Tasmanian roads with many cases thought to go unreported.

Tasmanian government data reveals the roadkill "hotspots" around the state. Picture: Supplied/DPIPWEE.
Camera IconTasmanian government data reveals the roadkill hot spots around the state. Supplied/DPIPWEE. Credit: NCA NewsWire

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A map included in the report shows roadkill hot spots around the island’s roadways.

Witnesses wrote reports of finding more than five animals mowed down on the side of the road at a time.

“Couldn’t stop. This is a very dangerous road for wildlife,” one person wrote.

Another person wrote: “Three animals mown down on one 20-metre stretch of road. Council refuses to enforce dirt road or after dark speed limits!”

Gruesome discoveries of wallabies, penguins, Tasmanian devils, echidnas, platypuses, brushtail possums and bandicoots were among the reports.

tarkine
Camera IconHundreds of endangered Tasmanian devils have been reported killed on the state’s roads. Supplied. Credit: News Corp Australia

App data reported nearly 950 Tasmanian devils were left on the side of the road.

The marsupial faces extinction with fewer than 25,000 left in the wild.

Tamar Valley Roadkill Initiative president Bruce George told the ABC that Tasmanians needed to change their perception on roadkill being a normal, everyday part of life.

“Many people believe that we have grown up with roadkill and the apparent apathy displayed is because people are conditioned to living with it,” he said.

“On a half-a-kilometre stretch of a 60 km/h straight road in front of our accommodation we counted 24 wallaby carcasses over the Christmas break alone - that's appalling.”

In a statement, the Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment Tasmania said it was “investigating options for a new mobile app-based roadkill reporting system”.

It said the system “will allow easy reporting of roadkill”.

Originally published as Tasmanian study shows tens of thousands of animals killed on roads

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