Dr Jochen Langbein LangbeinWildlifeAssociates. working with

Transcription

1 Deer Vehicle Collisions Concerns and Solutions Staffordshire incl. Cannock Chase AONB Dr Jochen Langbein LangbeinWildlifeAssociates working with

2 Talk outline: Deer Vehicle Collisions Concerns and Solutions Staffordshire incl. Cannock Chase AONB National / Local scale and distribution of DVC problem Local Objectives & Preventative options Study of effects of wildlife deterrents incl. video surveillance Summary Integration of approaches

3 Public / Media in UK still tend to view Animal-Vehicle collisions as Freak accidents Biker dies in freak collision on A24 West Sussex- BBC News 4 June 2007 Hemel Gazette Aug.2005 DRIVER KILLED BY FLYING DEER.in freak accident on A35, Hampshire (Hants Chronicle 26 / 11 / 2006) Even though general estimates of roadkill of large mammals in Britain have long been exceeded: 40,000 Deer 50,000 Badgers 100,000 Foxes With on average c.1% of all DVC in England leading to human injury

4 Groot Bruinderink & Hazebroek (1996) estimated Over 500,000 collisions with ungulates in Europe (excluding Russia) Resulting in 300 people killed 30,000 people injured $ 1,000,000,000 material damage (based on Road Kill data from 8 countries with available records Including among others : Germany : Sweden: Austria: Denmark: 120,000 roe; 6500 wild boar; 2800 red & fallow; 50,000 roe; 4000 moose; 35,000 roe; 400 red deer ; 150 boar 10,000 roe; 100 red deer Now 750,000+ plus in Europe?

5 National Deer-Vehicle Collisions Project Main aims were: Assess National scale and built database of known DVC locations identify accident hot-spots

6 The Deer Initiative The Deer Initiative is a broad partnership of statutory, voluntary and private interests dedicated to ensuring the delivery of a sustainable, well managed wild deer population in England and Wales.

7 Landscape scale deer management Integrated Approach Deer management at a landscape scale, including: Infrastructure support Population and impact monitoring Collaborative culls Reducing Deer-Vehicle collisions (DVCs). Disease monitoring Venison marketing Training

8 Data Collection is now continuing Please report ALL Deer/Vehicle collisions or dead deer seen at roadsides throughout either on-line to: or

9 Traffic by Country & Region: 2004 ( Billion Vehicle Kilometers driven ) Scotland 42.5 Wales 27.3 England of which: South East 86.6 London 32.7 North West 56.6 East of England 55.1 West Midlands 48.6 South West 47.1 Yorks&Humbers East Midlands 40.7 North East 19.9 Source: National Road Traffic Survey, DfT. Only 18% of all Deer Collisions reported are in Scotland... BUT occur within <10% of all traffic; therefore risk of hitting a deer per mile driven doubles! Total 16,519 DVC records plotted

10 Relative frequency of recorded DVCs in in southern England; replotted at finer scale for nos. incidents per 5 km by 5 km OS grid square. LangbeinWildlifeAssociates

11 For Cannock & Staffordshire Reported as a DVCs whole Fallow Englandat present still make up >80% of reported collisions where the species is reported > > (40%) (32%) (25%) ((69%) Reported DVCs Scotland (24%) > >

12 Seasonal Distribution of DVCs 250 Roe deer (n=1459) 200 ROE Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Fallow deer (n=1845) FALLOW Jan Feb M ar Apr M ay Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 140 Muntjac (n=1126) 120 MUNTJAC Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

13 Seasonal Distribution of DVCs Roe deer (n=1459) 250 All reported DVCs England (n=14,441) ROE FALLOW MUNTJAC Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Fallow deer (n=1845) Jan Feb M ar Apr M ay Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Muntjac (n=1126) Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun 60 Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

14 Daily accident peaks and the influence of season. (analysis restricted to human injury accidents for which incidents times tend to be recorded most reliably Deer Vehicle Collisions by Time of Day and Season (based on incident times for 1020 human injury accidents) Dec-Feb Mar-May Jun-Aug Sep-Nov No. of human injur ry DVCs :00-03:00 03:00-06:00 06:00-09:00 09:00-12:00 12:00-15:00 15:00-18:00 18:00-21:00 21:00-24:00

15 Distribution of Reported Deer-Collisions in Staffordshire (using Jan.2002 to June 2007 data only)

16 Distribution of Reported Deer-Collisions at Cannock Chase (Jan.2001 to Jun data only) Penkridge Bank!! Birches Valley!! Camp Road!! A513 Milford - Haywood

17 Motorway & Trunk route deer casualty reports from Highways Dept.

18 Are Deer Accidents Increasing? a) RSPCA call-outs to live injured DVC deer b) Fortis Insurance claims 3000 Traffic in Great Britain Billion Ve eh. kms Year Source: National Road Traffic Survey, DfT. Fortis Insurance RSPCA

19 Are Deer Accidents Increasing? a) RSPCA call-outs to live injured DVC deer b) Fortis Insurance claims 3000 Traffic in Great Britain Billion Ve eh. kms Year Source: National Road Traffic Survey, DfT. Fortis Insurance RSPCA

20 Animal Road Kill Concerns Animal Welfare Conservation of (local) populations Road Safety human injury material damage Other cost incl.. dispatch / rescue; carcass disposal; traffic delays etc...

21 Human Costs: 1. Damage to Vehicles

22 Fortis deer related claims Motor Claims Fortis Ins. Ltd 4.25 % market share c. 1.3 Million private policies For : Tot claims 252,709 which included: 776 with Deer (0.31 %) 167 with Foxes 123 with Badgers

23 Fortis Insurance claims (ie. only c. 4.5% of all likely claims ( )

24 Likely number of significantly damaged vehicles (i.e. > Insurance policy excess ) Using Fortis Group Insurance sample data for 1.3 million private motor polices == c % of private vehicles Extrapolation to Great Britain suggests: 10,716 deer-related motor claims per avg. cost 1320 = 13.9 Million in GB of which c % in Scotland = 2.57 M (rises to 17M if incl. estimate for commercial vehicles)

25 Likely number of significantly damaged vehicles (i.e. > Insurance policy excess ) Among these 10,000 + Deer-related Motor claims in UK of which 2.2 % recorded in Staffordshire : i.e. In Staffordshire alone number of significantly damaged motor vehicles likely to exceed Every year!

26 How many Human Injuries? & Cost to Economy?

27 Recorded Human injury DVCs maps Deer related PIAs DVC / deer road kill

28 Deer/Vehicle Collisions (DVC) leading to human injury Table 8 : Deer-Vehicle Collisions (DVC) leading to Human injury, as identified within road traffic accidents records for a sample of 26 English counties plus eights Unitary Authorities for which data were available for between three to six years each Year County / Unitary No. of years Annual Authorities with data Total mean Hampshire Essex Suffolk Norfolk na na Oxfordshire Hertfordshire Devon Surrey Buckinghamshire Gloucestershire Northamptonshire na na Dorset Wiltshire incl. Swindon UA na na Somerset na West Staffordshire Berkshire UA - Human 5 4injury 2 Data 5 re 3Deer 3 Not available Bedfordshire inc. Luton UA na Lincolnshire na na Warwickshire But based on reported deer road kill / and %Insurance West Sussex na Herefordshire UA na na Kent 4 8 Human injury RTCs 3 4 involving 3 0 deer 1 per 2 year East Sussex claims, Staffordshire is highly unlikely to have any fewer than

29 Other animal in Road RTAs causing Human injury (sample data for from 14 Counties making up c.33% land area of England) Animal Nos. Number of Casualties % Injury Type RTAs Slight KSI Total age (Killed or Seriously injured) Wild Mammals Deer % Badger % Fox % Rabbit/Hare % Others % Total % Birds and Domesticated mammals Pheasants % Other Bird % Horse/Pony % Cows % Sheep % Cats % Total % Non-Specific 'Animal' in road Overall Total

30 Nos. of Average personal injury Value accidents of Prevention where carriageway hazard noted as Other animal by severity (source: DfT ) per Injury accident by severity Year Slight Serious Fatal Total 2000 (UK Highways Economic 2056 Note 1: values) Fatal accident 1897 : 337 1,492, Seriously Injured: , yr mean Slightly injured: , Est. for Deer if contribute Ave. per PIA 456 incident: 86 61, to 23.5 % Value of Prevention of animal related human injury RTAs (@ mean 61,000 per incident) Deer alone = > 30, 000, 000 per annum All Animal related Personal injury RTAs = > 150 Million per annum

31 Summary annual DVC Costs Animal Welfare Deer Killed c. 46,000 (+/- 9000), of which c.30% live casualties requiring dispatch at roadside Vehicle damage > 17 Million in UK Human Losses > 500 injury casualties per annum including Fatalities Economic Costs > 30 M Other costs include Live injured deer dispatch / rescue Carcass collection / disposal / Traffic delays

32 Booklet & Reports Deer on our Roads (Deer Initiative, 2007) DVC England (Langbein, 2007) DVC Scotland (Langbein &Putman, 2006) & others available for download at:

33 Mitigation can be costly Fencing Green bridge Dynamic, animal activated Signage Acoustic/optical wildlife deterrents LangbeinWildlifeAssociates...but, IF effective, can make sound economic sense

34 Figure 3.8: Factors influencing the number of wildlife traffic accidents

35 Approaches to Deer Mitigation Preventing, or controlling crossing: e.g. highway fencing; wildlife warning reflectors; local reduction of deer density; chemical deterrents ; vehicle warning whistles Provision of safer crossing places e.g. dedicated over / underpasses; adaptation of existing structures for joint use; or creation of designated cross-walks across the carriageway. Driver behaviour / awarenes e.g. Fixed signage; Dynamic speed or animal activated signage; Speed limits / Traffic calming; Driver Training / hazard awareness LangbeinWildlifeAssociates

36 Deer Fence New A120 Stansted Deer Fencing remains only well proven method at high risk sites - but should ideally be combined with leading animals to safer crossing places. Costly to maintain Effectiveness: HIGH

37 Green wildlife bridges and underpasses Effectiveness: HIGH

38 COST 341 Habitat Fragmentation due to Transportation Infrastructure WILDLIFE AND TRAFFIC A European Handbook for Identifying Conflicts and Designing Solutions

39 Examples of joint use accommodation structures M25 Bridge & tunnel used by fallow and muntjac Effectiveness: Promising / HIGH

40 M25 unsuitable bridge?

41 Fallow deer - crossing over UK s busiest Motorway (M25)

42 Driver / Public Awareness Effectiveness: Promising / Intuitive

43 Management of Verge Vegetation improving forward visibility for drivers and deer Effectiveness: Promising

44 Deterrents A) Car mounted air-activated Deer-whistles : cheap - but no convincing scientific evidence of effectiveness, or even that deer can detect sounds emitted above traffic noise. Effectiveness: Poor

45 Optical wildlife warning reflectors are widespread - but there is little evidence for lasting effectiveness. - particularly not under high traffic flow conditions as in UK - & RED reflectors likely to appear Grey/ or black to deer! Wildlife Warning Reflectors Effectiveness: Limited / Poor

46 Use of remote video surveillance to investigate deer behaviour in relation to wildlife deterrents, roads and vehicles Jochen Langbein Three Counties Traffic Partnership LangbeinWildlifeAssociates & Somerset County Council

47 Reported Deer Collisions Trial locations National Deer Vehicle Collisions Project The Deer Initiative

48 Reported Deer Collisions Trial locations

49 B4506 Ashridge Dumbach Animal activated Signs (May 2006) Eurocontor Ecopillars (Oct. 2005) Traffic flow >5000 Vehicles per day Wegu-Gft Acoustic Reflectors (Sep. 2005) LangbeinWildlifeAssociates 1 km

50 First Animal activated deer warning system in UK (Hertfordshire Highways )

51 A39 Quantock Hills : WEGU-Gft Acoustic Reflector trial (Oct )

52 Confounding factors: Variation in Deer Collisions between years may arise through changes including in e.g.: Deer abundance Cull taken Distribution of cull activity Other local disturbance / events Agricultural cropping Proportion DVCs reported Publicity and Signage Traffic volume / speed Verge vegetation management..as well as potential effects of Deterrents

53 Digital covert video ; 2-3 cameras (for control + trial sections) 93 days filmed (61 Ashridge / 32 Quantocks) c hrs useable footage >400 groups (=<1000 deer) filmed at road plus c. 100 fox / badger road crossings

54 Video studies To re-view example video clips go to:

55 Video studies - trial filming at Cannock March 2008

56 Video studies - trial filming at Cannock March Night Mountain Bikers

57 Video studies demonstrate- Much higher than expected level of crossings recorded (many thousands of deer crossing per year) In addition to c. 200 hit per year at Cannock Chase huge numbers of daily near misses ; some of which will cause swerving & accidents that are not recorded specifically as being deer related. Wide variability in response by deer to traffic & deterrents

58 Delay after most recent vehicle below animal(s) entered roadway Ashridge : Fallow Deer Controls >5 sec 5-10s 10-20s 20-30s 30-60s 1-2min 2-5min >5min Total Crossed dark light Not cross dark light Total Median: night day Wegu-Gft Crossed dark light Not cross dark light Total Ecopillar Crossed dark light Not cross dark light Total Muntjac Muntjac - All

59 Delay after most recent vehicle before animals entered roadway A39-Quantocks : Red Deer Controls >5 sec 5-10s 10-20s 20-30s 30-60s 1-2min 2-5min >5min Total Crossed dark light Not cross dark light Total Wegu-Gft Crossed dark light Not cross dark light Total Foxes (both areas combined) Fox crossings >5 sec 5-10s 10-20s 20-30s 30-60s 1-2min 2-5min >5min Total Control Wegu-Gft Ecopillar total

60 Change in numbers of DVC at Ashridge Deer Collisions Ashridge NT (recorded ) /1 2001/2 2002/3 2003/4 2004/5 2005/6 2006/7 Deterrent installation

61 Pokorny (unpubl.) mostly re Roe deer in Slovenia)

62 Response trials Show fast habituation to Ecopillar signals by wild fallow, red deer and even roe deer. Further direct animal-response trials needed to assess potential of other deterrents, and/or determine optimal signals

63 Other more promising approaches being tried elsewhere Ashridge (Herts CC) Interactive Signage Thetford (Suffolk CC) rumble strips speed reduction noted even though little effect on deer behaviour Ashdown (East Sussex CC) - awareness posters & enhanced road signage Dinmore (DI w. Hereford CC) Improved co-ordination of deer control across landownership boundaries

64 Summary re Individual measures: What if anything works? [Reviews of Mitigation measures see : Putman, Langbein & Staines 2004; in US: Hedlund et al. 2005; and see ]

65 Integration of several measures required Three Counties Chilterns Traffic Partnership matched to local situation : with National Trust and Chilterns Conservation Board (Buckinghamshire : Hertfordshire: Bedfordshire) working with Driver awareness e.g. Interactive signs Public awareness / posters / media Enforced speed limits, traffic calming Co-ordinated deer control over FC/SCC land Dog walker / Night Cycling / visitor control Verge management Fencing leading to safer crossing points Undisturbed sanctuary / feed areas Wildlife Deterrents (??) Driver Education (via Instructors & Road Safety teams)

66 Realistic Targets for Cannock Three Counties Chilterns Traffic Partnership over 3 years?? with National Trust and Chilterns Conservation Board (Buckinghamshire : Hertfordshire: Bedfordshire) working with Reduce DVCs < 90 per year (currently >150 pa need to be attended by FC & SCC rangers) Fewer than 1 deer related Human injury RTC on average per annum Stop any further escalation of fallow deer numbers; and maintain control of population

67 Realistic Targets for Cannock Three Counties Chilterns Traffic Partnership over 3 years?? with National Trust and Chilterns Conservation Board (Buckinghamshire : Hertfordshire: Bedfordshire) working with Reduce DVCs < 90 per year Success likely to depend on close partnership working to facilitate co-ordinated action, funding and monitor progress: (currently >150 pa need to be attended by FC & SCC rangers) Including among others e.g. Fewer Staffordshire than 1 deer Road Safety related Partnership Human (Police injury / CC) RTC on average Staffordshire per CC annum Roads & Environment Dept. Forestry Commission Cannock Chase AONB Stop any further escalation of fallow deer Friends of Cannock numbers; and maintain control of population British Deer Society The Deer Initiative

68 Advice to Drivers re DVC avoidance Three Counties Chilterns Traffic Partnership with National Trust and Chilterns Conservation Board Take note of wildlife warning signs Peaks in deer related traffic collisions occur October through December, followed by May. Highest-risk periods are from sunset to midnight followed by the hours shortly before and after sunrise. Be aware that further deer may well cross after the ones you have noticed. After dark use full-beams when there is no opposing traffic. The headlight beam will illuminate the eyes of deer near roadway BUT if deer noted dim headlights to avoid causing animals to freeze rather than leaving the road. Don't over-swerve to avoid hitting a deer. If a collision with the animal seems inevitable, hit it while maintaining full control of your car. The alternative of swerving into oncoming traffic or a ditch could be even worse. An exception here may be motorcyclists, who are at particular risk when in direct collisions with animals. Only break sharply and stop if there is no danger of being hit by following traffic. Report any deer-vehicle collisions to the police (who should be able to contact the local person best placed to assist with an injured deer at the roadside) (Buckinghamshire : Hertfordshire: Bedfordshire) working with

69 Advice to Drivers re DVC avoidance Three Counties Chilterns Traffic Partnership with National Trust and Chilterns Conservation Board Take note of wildlife warning signs Peaks in deer related traffic collisions occur October through December, followed by May. Highest-risk periods are from sunset to midnight followed by the hours shortly before and after sunrise. Be aware that further deer may well cross after the ones you have noticed. After dark use full-beams when there is no opposing traffic. The headlight beam will illuminate the eyes of deer near roadway BUT if deer noted dim headlights to avoid causing animals to freeze rather than leaving the road. Don't over-swerve to avoid hitting a deer. If a collision with the animal seems inevitable, hit it while maintaining full control of your car. The alternative of swerving into oncoming traffic or a ditch could be even worse. An exception here may be motorcyclists, who are at particular risk when in direct collisions with animals. Only break sharply and stop if there is no danger of being hit by following traffic. Report any deer-vehicle collisions to the police (who should be able to contact the local person best placed to assist with an injured deer at the roadside) (Buckinghamshire : Hertfordshire: Bedfordshire) working with

70 copyright Note - all videos material remains copyright Jochen Langbein, and should not be used for publication or passed on to third parties without permission. Photographs in the presentation are by J Langbein, but some by various others photographers, and should also not be passed on to third parties. Contact J Langbein, Langbein Wildlife Associates, Greenleas, Chestnut Avenue,Chapel Cleeve, Minehead, Somerset TA24 6HY deer@langbein.freeserve.co.uk Tel