Chapter 2
Current Knowledge on Wildlife Mortality
in Railways
Sara M. Santos, Filipe Carvalho and António Mira
Abstract Wildlife mortality on roads has received considerable attention in the
past years, allowing the collection of abundant data for a wide range of taxonomic
groups. On the contrary, studies of wildlife mortality on railway tracks are scarce
and have focused primarily on a few large mammals, such as moose and bears.
Nevertheless, many species are found as victims of collisions with trains, although
certain taxonomic groups, such as amphibians and reptiles, and/or small bodied
species are reported infrequently and their mortality is probably underestimated.
However, no assessment of population impacts is known for railways.
Keywords Wildlife mortality Á Railway collisions Á Collision risk
Introduction
One of the most obvious impacts of railways on wildlife is direct mortality from
collisions with trains (Davenport and Davenport 2006; Dorsey et al. 2015; Forman
et al. 2003; van der Grift 1999). In addition to collisions, mortality can also occur
due to electrocution, wire strikes and rail entrapment (Dorsey et al. 2015; SCV
1996). In fact, some species of small body size can become trapped between the
rails and die from dehydration or hunger (Budzic and Budzic 2014; Kornilev et al.
S.M. Santos (&) Á F. Carvalho Á A. Mira
CIBIO/InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos,
Universidade de Évora, Pólo de Évora, Casa do Cordovil 2º Andar,
7000-890 Évora, Portugal
e-mail: smsantos@uevora.pt
A. Mira
Unidade de Biologia da Conservação, Departamento de Biologia,
Universidade de Évora, Mitra, 7002-554 Évora, Portugal
F. Carvalho
Department of Zoology and Entomology, School of Biological and Environmental Sciences,
University of Fort Hare, Private Bag X1314, Alice 5700, South Africa
© The Author(s) 2017
L. Borda-de-Água et al. (eds.), Railway Ecology,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-57496-7_2
11
Current Knowledge on Wildlife Mortality
in Railways
Sara M. Santos, Filipe Carvalho and António Mira
Abstract Wildlife mortality on roads has received considerable attention in the
past years, allowing the collection of abundant data for a wide range of taxonomic
groups. On the contrary, studies of wildlife mortality on railway tracks are scarce
and have focused primarily on a few large mammals, such as moose and bears.
Nevertheless, many species are found as victims of collisions with trains, although
certain taxonomic groups, such as amphibians and reptiles, and/or small bodied
species are reported infrequently and their mortality is probably underestimated.
However, no assessment of population impacts is known for railways.
Keywords Wildlife mortality Á Railway collisions Á Collision risk
Introduction
One of the most obvious impacts of railways on wildlife is direct mortality from
collisions with trains (Davenport and Davenport 2006; Dorsey et al. 2015; Forman
et al. 2003; van der Grift 1999). In addition to collisions, mortality can also occur
due to electrocution, wire strikes and rail entrapment (Dorsey et al. 2015; SCV
1996). In fact, some species of small body size can become trapped between the
rails and die from dehydration or hunger (Budzic and Budzic 2014; Kornilev et al.
S.M. Santos (&) Á F. Carvalho Á A. Mira
CIBIO/InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos,
Universidade de Évora, Pólo de Évora, Casa do Cordovil 2º Andar,
7000-890 Évora, Portugal
e-mail: smsantos@uevora.pt
A. Mira
Unidade de Biologia da Conservação, Departamento de Biologia,
Universidade de Évora, Mitra, 7002-554 Évora, Portugal
F. Carvalho
Department of Zoology and Entomology, School of Biological and Environmental Sciences,
University of Fort Hare, Private Bag X1314, Alice 5700, South Africa
© The Author(s) 2017
L. Borda-de-Água et al. (eds.), Railway Ecology,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-57496-7_2
11