Resources - Reports

Wildlife Afield

Wildlife Afield is a publication of the Biodiversity Centre for Wildlife Studies, based in Victoria, BC. They have published a supplement to the January - June 2006 edition (Vol. 3 No. 1), which features articles on roads and wildlife in British Columbia. 

Journal copies may be ordered from the BCFWS website 

Articles include:

• Hesse, S. Gayle. 2006. Collisions with Wildlife: An Overview of Major Wildlife Vehicle Collision Data Collection Systems in British Columbia and Recommendations for the Future.
• Preston, Michael I., Larry Halverson and Gayle Hesse. 2006. Mitigation Efforts to Reduce Mammal Mortality on Roadways in Kootenay National Park, British Columbia. 
• Rea, Roy V., Eric K. Rapaport, Dexter P. Hodder, Michael V. Hurley, and Nicole A. Klassen. 2006. Using Wildlife Vehicle Collision Data, Expert Opinions and GPS Technology to More Accurately Predict and Mitigate Vehicular Collisions with Wildlife in Northern British Columbia. 

Reports

Underreporting of Wildlife Vehicle Collisions

Quantifying wildlife vehicle collision underreporting on Highway 33 (2008 - 2017). 2020. G Hesse an R.V. Rea. Unpublished report prepared for the BC Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure. 54 p.

Quantifying wildlife vehicle collision underreporting on northern British Columbia highways (2004-2013). 2016. G. Hesse and R. V. Rea. Unpublished report prepared for the BC Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure. 53 p.

This report integrated wildlife vehicle collision data from BC MOTI (WARS; Wildlife Accident Reporting System), BC MOTI (CIS; Collison Information System), ICBC, and the Conservation Officer Service to establish the baseline number of WVCs that had occurred on selected highways in northern BC from 2004 to 2013. This data was then used to document patterns in WVC underreporting and establish the degree of WVC underreporting by agency.

Wildlife Vehicle Collisions - a Canadian Summary

Collisions Involving Motor Vehicles and Large Animals in Canada. 2003. L - P Tardiff & Associates Inc. Prepared for Transport Canada Road Safety Directorate.

• This report provides a comprehensive look at the wildlife vehicle collision issue from a Canadian perspective. It contains a literature review, statistics from across Canada, a mitigation methods review, and provides a summary of the key findings. It focuses also on documenting the underestimation of the number of animal vehicle collisions in Canada. This report estimates that between 4 to 8 large animal vehicle collisions take place every hour in Canada.

Wildlife Vehicle Collisions - a Northern British Columbia summary

Using Collision Data, GPS Technology and Expert Opinion to Develop Strategic Countermeasure Recomendations for Reducing Animal-Vehicle Collisions in Northern Britsh Columbia. 2006. Road Health-University Wildlife Collision Mitigation Research Team. Unpublished Report. Prince George, BC. 145 p.

• This report analyses 10 years of ICBC animal collision data in northern BC  from 1996-2005; reports on the use of a portable GPS device, the Otto Driving Companion^TM, to record information on live and dead deer and moose along specified highway routes; provides results from an expert opinion study on common locations for wildlife collisions and provides results from a survey of logging truck drivers on the occurrence of encounters between truck drivers and moose on local area roads.  

Mitigation Method Summaries

Overview of Technologies Aimed at Reducing and Preventing Large Animal Strikes. 2003. Standards Research and Development Branch. Road Safety and Motor Vehicle Regulation Directorate. Transport Canada, Ottawa, Ontario.

Habitat Modification

Modifying Roadside Vegetation Management Practices to Reduce Vehicular Collisions with Moose Alces alces. Rea, R. V., Wildlife Biology. 9: 2 (2003).

The Impact of the Timing of Brush Management on the Nutritional Value of Woody Browse for Moose Alces alces. 2001. Rea, R. V. and M. P. Gillingham. Journal of Applied Ecology 38 (4): 710 - 719.

View the Abstract (Scroll down the web page to Abstract 710)

Roadside Mineral Licks

Mineral, or "muck" licks are wet, muddy seepage areas where below-ground mineral springs upwell to deposit materials collected by waters percolating through surrounding soils. These mineral-laden seeps can range in size from a few to hundreds of square meters, and are easily identified seasonally by concentrations of animal tracks, on the order of those found in cattle feedlots. At least one trail, and more commonly a network of heavily used trails, often radiate away from the lick into the adjacent woodlands or fields. When these licks are located in the road right-of-way, the risk of moose-vehicle collisions increases.

Muck licks are very attractive to moose, typically in June and July, when moose seek supplemental sources of mineral elements and other material present in the mud and water of mineral deposits.

• Canadian research on moose and mineral licks is being carried out in Quebec and British Columbia.
• Grosman, P. D., Jaeger, J. A. G., Biron, P. M., Dussault, C., and J.-P. Ouellet. 2009. Reducing moose–vehicle collisions through salt pool removal and displacement: an agent-based modeling approach. Ecology and Society 14(2): 17. [online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol14/iss2/art17
• Laurian C., Dussault, C., Ouellet, J.P., Courtois, R., Poulin, and M., Breton, L. 2008. Behavioral Adaptations of Moose to Roadside Salt Pools. Journal of Wildlife Management 72(5):1094–1100.
• Laurian C., Dussault, C., Ouellet, J.P., Courtois, R., Poulin, and M., Breton, L. 2008. Behavior of Moose Relative to a Road Network. Journal of Wildlife Management 72(7):1550–1557.
• Leblond, M., Dussault, C., Ouellet, J.-P., Poulin, M., Courtois, R., and J. Fortin, 2007. Management of Roadside Salt Pools to Reduce Moose–Vehicle Collisions. Journal of Wildlife Management 71(7):2304–2310.
• Rea, R.V., and R.V. Rea Sr. 2005. Of Moose and Mud.  Public Roads [online]. Sept/Oct 2005. U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration.

Intelligent Warning Systems

Wildlife Protection System

The only Canadian project to test an infra-red animal detection system used the Wildlife Protection System, which is no longer available. One article was written using Wildlife Protection System data to study deer behaviour near roadsides.

Use of Infrared Camera Video Footage from a Wildlife Protection System to Assess Collision-Risk Behaviour by Deer in Kootenay National Park, British Columbia. 2003. Kinley, T. A., H. Page, N. J. Newhouse. Prepared for the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC.