Car-nage on our highways: 263 dead roos in 250 km

By Dr FIONA WALSH

Why do we continue to allow and accept the deaths of animals on our roads?

I recognise that global warming, wildfires and floods accelerated by profiteers are beyond the immediate control of many of us. They too hurt many native animals.

This was one of only two living kangaroos I saw in 1,300 km from Port Augusta to Alice Springs.

But there is something we can all do. We can all can drive more slowly and carefully. Can this include truck and road train drivers who haul for freight company bosses?

I’ve recently driven more than 6,000 km in a loop from Mparntwe Alice Springs to the east coast and home again. My first holiday in eight years. I saw animals killed on roads in the NT, SA, Victoria and southern NSW. Unexpectedly, this became a topic of conversation with friends met as I travelled. They echoed the concerns, and a few are acting on them.

I’m an ecologist with strong feelings for animals both native and introduced. For the long solo drive, I’d set myself a few rules like be at my destination well before dusk, don’t drive at night, drive slowly, stay alert, keep the windscreen clean so I could see well etc.

These guides were for the well-being of myself and my two companion dogs. But it was also for the well-being of animals on the road. To my knowledge, I did not kill any mammals, reptiles or birds on the long journey. I winced and apologised when I hit grasshoppers or butterflies.

I passed many dead mammals: , a Southern Greater Glider and others. Many dead birds: Wedgetail eagles, kites, Sulphur crested cockatoos (12 dead in a few hundred metres on the Hume Highway), Magpies, Galahs, Port Lincoln Parrots, a Superb Lyrebird, others. Plus, an uncountable number of reptiles.

To see the dead Kangaroos reminded me of one of my own dogs who is similar in colour with a fine coat and long fair limbs. The dead Wombats really hurt me as the younger of my son’s had the nickname Wombat.

To see a Wombat upright, like it is having a squat by the road, but dead brought tears to my eyes. My older son has the nickname Poss or Possum. I would have shut my eyes if I hadn’t t needed them open to watch the white lines.

Driving solo I was lonely in my grief for these beings. I tried not to see the animals, but it was as if they were still leaping and bounding into my vision. I wanted not to see them, but I did. How do you cope with seeing dead animals?

East of Melbourne in the Mornington Peninsula area, I lamented to an erstwhile Alice Springs friend about the numbers of dead animals. They too were gravely concerned about the carnage.

So, they’re planning to do a Wildcare course that will qualify them to safely check animals on the road to assess death, injuries, look for pouch young and more. They’re also recording road kills to the app iNaturalist.

They spoke of a local residents’ group “Watch for Wildlife” who put their own funds and time into actions including making signs that ask drivers to respect wildlife. Their local council supports Watch for Wildlife putting out the signs that comply with road signage rules.

North-east on the Princes Highway, I looked over the body of a Superb lyrebird. Being from the NT and WA, I’d never seen a Lyrebird before. That the first one I saw was dead is heart-rending.

His body inert but undamaged. He will never call, mimic other creatures, display his magnificent plumage or have chicks again. An Alice friend, who’d also driven to the Sapphire Coast in southern NSW past similar roadside tragedies, had offered a prayer for each deceased animal she passed.

At Bermagui, I’d blithely mentioned to a past colleague from CSIRO Alice days that I’d seen hundreds of dead animals. “Hundreds?” she questioned. Then I wondered if I was exaggerating.

A Superb Lyrebird killed on the Princes Highway. A male in breeding plumage so more than seven years old.

Heading home, I left Mildura early as the day was to reach 40^oC.

In the Riverina, there was a poignant sight. Driving by a clear paddock, I saw a single Emu standing still and looking around. That struck me as unusual as Emu are family animals who move a lot.

A little further on was one adult Emu with two younger ones, teenagers. This threesome was also standing still and looking around. How odd. Then a little further on the Sturt Highway I saw what might explain the strange Emu behaviour.

There was one then another then another dead Emu, just killed. Three dead teenagers. Were the others looking for their kin?

Who are the drivers responsible for such deaths? If these animals were human, then the drivers would be known to authorities. In their district, one friend speculated whether  truck drivers were the culprits, but they said they don’t know the actual mix of vehicles hitting animals.

In the Quorn district, another friend suggested that most of the dead Euros between Quorn and Port Augusta were probably killed by tradies commuting to and from jobs. On the highways, road train drivers who travel day and night are likely to be the more common slaughterers. There is logic but uncertainties too behind each of the suggestions.

The Stuart Highway stretch from Port Augusta to Glendambo reminded me of my father’s family images of the Belgian Flanders Fields from World War 1. One dead being after another.

So, I started counting kangaroos from Glendambo to Coober Pedy. That is a neat 250 km distance. Concentrating hard, I noted 263 dead kangaroos on the road. That is an underestimate as I did not count piles of bones or carcasses off the road indicated by carnivals of crows.

There was more than one dead kangaroo each 0.9 km. I saw only two living kangaroos from Port Augusta to Alice Springs.

So, I had underestimated the overall count to my friend in Bermagui, it was probably more than a thousand dead animals I’d seen along my journey.

One of many dead Red kangaroos recently killed on the Stuart Highway. The high number indicated that animals had come into roadsides to feed during widespread dry and hot conditions; it was 47 ^OC in Coober Pedy the previous day.

To my surprise, more than a third of the 268 kangaroos appeared to be recent deaths, of the last day or so. Why were there so many dead in this hot period? 

A peril of Australian roads in rangeland country is that the hard bitumen sheds water onto the road margin. This encourages the growth of scant green grass. The roadside grass draws animals in, who then become vulnerable to our attitudes and vehicle speeds.

In hot rainless periods, the feed and waterholes of native animals dispersed patchily across landscapes dries out.

“But there are plenty more roos” you might say. How do you know? By contrast, I worry we may be seeing the last animals in some stretches of country. For most species, there is no population study data. So how do we know what the impacts on populations are or their capacity to recover?

If you drive road trains or trucks or caravans or utes or cars or any other vehicle on open roads, please consider the following:

• Drive slowly enough to allow safe stopping to save animals.
• Be alert and prepared to avoid animals.
• If you’re a passenger, ask the driver to slow.
• Avoid driving at dawn and dusk.
• When you see animals, dip your high beam and LEDs so animals are not blinded and confused.
• Shift attitudes toward wildlife: please stop putting speed and profits ahead of the well-being of wildlife.
• Imagine if these animals were your family or friends.

I wrote this article as a volunteer. If you know of other information or relevant research please share them in comments.

ABOVE:A dead kangaroo ahead on a Stuart Highway rumble line alongside a caution drivers of phone use hazards. Presumably thousands of dollars are spent on such signage. Are the allocations equitable between people and animals? AT TOP: Stuart Highway. Kangaroo 219 of 263 dead animals in 250 kms.