Slow down on the highways to save animals

A group of wildlife conservationists aims to mainstream the issue of animal accidents on highways that cut across the forests

October 02, 2015 04:34 pm | Updated 08:35 pm IST - MADURAI:

Caution boards to be planted on either side of the Madurai-VirudhuNagar Highway at Tirumangalam. Photo: Special Arrangement

Caution boards to be planted on either side of the Madurai-VirudhuNagar Highway at Tirumangalam. Photo: Special Arrangement

An image of a bridge constructed across a highway in The Netherlands to facilitate safe crossing of wildlife has been doing the rounds on Facebook for the past few weeks. The caption says that the country has built 600 such bridges across various such roads. “In India, we have numeroushighways that pass through national parks and wildlife sanctuaries but unfortunately there are no facilities like this,” says Mohammed R Saleem, president of Environment Conservation Group, a Coimbatore-based NGO. “Road kills of wild animals is increasing in the recent times and this is an issue that’s less addressed even by conservationists.”

To highlight the cause and sensitise various stakeholders, the group has started an initiative PATH (Provide Animals safe Transit on Highways) and six wildlife enthusiasts are planning to drive from Kanyakumari to Kashmir and Kutch to Meghalaya to spread the message. Starting from Coimbatore, the campaign will cover Madurai, Kanyakumari, Gulf of Mannar in the State and will cover more than 20,000 km passing through 22 states in six weeks. Along the route, they will visit seven bioshpere reserves – Rann of Kutch, Simlipal in Orissa, Sunderbans, Nilgiris bird reserve, Nandadevi in uttarakhand and Panchamarhi in MP and Nokrek in Meghalaya– apart from touching 25 sanctuaries. “We will start in November and meet forest officials, school and college students, nature lovers, policy makers and politicians to garner support for the cause,” says H. Byju, one of the six members. “Over the years, there has been rapid development of roads and faster vehicles moving on them. But as humans, we should also be thinking about the safety of animals.” The campaign will push for more speed breakers, caution boards along highways and other measures that can reduce road kills. In the end, they plan to come out with a book based on their observations in these sanctuaries.

“In a study we conducted across sanctuaries in western Tamil Nadu, Sathyamangalam and Mettupalayam were identified as the most vulnerable spots for animal accidents since the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu inter-state highway passes through these forests,” points out Mohammed Saleem. He says small mammals such as palm civets, jungle cats, amphibians and reptiles which are slow movers and the medium-sized animals like leopards and spotted dears cross the road in search of food, water and mates and get killed by speeding vehicles.

“In Sathyamangalam, the road separates the wetlands from dry areas, pushing animals to cross frequently. Birds also get hit by heavy trucks sometimes,” says Byju. “Most of these accidents occur at night, due to poor visibility. One solution is to stop night traffic. Currently, night movement of vehicles is banned in the stretch from Mudumalai to Bandipur, despite resistance.”

Conservationists say it is worse for an animal to get injured and handicapped for life than to get killed. “Once they get injured, survival in the wild becomes difficult. They get ostracised by the animal community and die a painful death,” notes Byju, who witnessed a road kill of a bonnet macaque in Ooty. Bonnet Macaques are said to be prone to road kills as many tourists feed them and whenever a vehicle shows up, the animals come running for eatables. Five years ago, the ECG members put up sign boards against speeding, feeding monkeys on either side of highways in Mudhumalai and using flash lights that may blind animals.

Next time you drive through the homes of wild animals, keep their needs in mind and apply brakes.

Some measures recommended by conservationist that may reduce animal road kills:

Planting neon caution boards and laying speed breakers near wetlands.

Building over bridges, undergrounds or separate pathways for animals to cross and navigate.

Regular clearing of bushes for 10 metres on either side of forest roads, as they block the view of both speeding drivers and approaching animals.

Restricting the movement of heavy duty vehicles that pass through forests during night.

Animal crossing at Tirumangalam in Madurai

In Madurai, the District Forest Department has identified animal crossing spots in Tirumangalam, across the Virudhunagar Highway. Populations of spotted deer, wild boars, Black Naped Hares and peacocks live in patches of social forestry plantations in Tirumangalam. “As the animals may cross the road and in order to prevent any road kills, we have designed notice boards cautioning motorists to slow down. The boards will list the animals with pictures and will be put up on either side of the stretch. Unfortunately, the National Highways Authority of India doesn’t allow speed breakers on Four-lane expressways,” says Nihar Ranjan, IFS, District Forest Officer.

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