click - Endangered Wildlife Trust

May 2015
Dear Friends and Supporters,
Welcome to the first edition of “The Green Mile” for 2015. We’ve started the year as we mean to go on … at ‘high speed’, and
have LOTS of exciting projects and new partnerships to tell you about.
Once again, a HUGE thank you to all of you who have been submitting your roadkill sightings. Our database is gaining
momentum, and we are really starting to develop an understanding of what is happening on our country’s roads. Please keep
your reports coming and check out our contribution to Earth Day with a short video on how to submit roadkill sightings on:
https://youtu.be/DXFGW5gpBVM
I hope you enjoy our newsletter and thank you to ALL of you for your support of our work.
Please feel free to send us your comments. Your feedback is ALWAYS much appreciated.
Yours in conservation,
Wendy Collinson
Project Executant: Wildlife and Roads Project
Endangered Wildlife Trust
Tel: +27 11 372 3600 / +27 73 596 1673
[email protected]
ROADS
NEW PARTNERS FOR THE WILDLIDE AND ROADS PROJECT
The Wildlife and Roads project is extremely excited to announce its
affiliation with three new partners;
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Bakwena N1/N4 Toll,
N3 Toll Concession (Pty) Ltd (N3TC) and,
Mikros Traffic Monitoring (Pty) Ltd
The EWT’s Wildlife and Roads Project (EWT-WRP) has improved our
understanding of the impacts of road infrastructure on wildlife over the
last five years.
Wendy Collinson collecting roadkill data
Through this project we have been gathering roadkill data from across the
country by driving set routes and encouraging members of the public to
submit data. In January 2014 we launched a national public awareness campaign to report roadkill sightings. The campaign
reached over 1,100 members (nationally and internationally) on the EWT-WRP’s Roadkill Research LinkedIn group, almost 850
members on the Road Ecology Facebook page and almost 250 followers on the EWTRoads Twitter account. In addition to this, a
cellphone app called ‘Road Watch’ was launched to enable members of the public to assist with data collection. As a result of
these roadkill reporting platforms, almost 10,000 roadkill data points have been collected with the assistance of over 150
volunteers from across the country. From these data, we can identify, develop and implement measures to reduce wildlife-roadmortality.
We are excited to announce our partnership with two relevant stakeholders, namely:
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Bakwena N1/N4 Toll; and,
N3 Toll Concession (Pty) Ltd (N3TC)
The N3TC started collecting records of animals killed on their roads in 2011 as part of
their ongoing safety programme and is now working with the EWT-WRP to address the
concerns they have in this regard. Bakwena have also committed their support to the
EWT-WRP.
Through these two partnerships, we will provide training workshops for
data collection and species identification, and capacitate road patrol teams,
as well as members of the public, to record and submit roadkill sightings
from across the country. To this end we have developed a five-year action
plan to address the gaps in our understanding of the impacts of roads on
biodiversity. This will inform the development and implementation of a
suite of measures to reduce wildlife-road-mortality and improve human
safety.
In addition to our two toll concessionaires, Mikros Traffic Monitoring
(Pty) Ltd have also committed to support the Wildlife and Roads Project.
Mikros Traffic Monitoring first came to our aid when we were collecting
traffic data in Pilanesberg National Park in October 2014. After a few
encounters with the elephants in the park, who destroyed our existing
traffic counters, Mikros Traffic Monitoring quickly became our champions
and assisted us with the donation and installation of new traffic monitors.
Training provided for species identification
Workshops and practical training sessions provided for staff
Since then, they have assisted with the roadkill mitigation project in the Greater Mapungubwe Transfrontier Conservation Area,
and will be supporting our next ‘Roadkill in Protected Areas’ project in Addo Elephant National Park. Mikros Traffic Monitoring
also work hand-in-hand with our two toll concessionaire partners. Through this cooperation we will be able to correlate the
number of animals being killed on the road to traffic volume and speed, and vehicle type.
Now part of the Syntell Group of companies, Mikros Traffic Monitoring (Pty) Ltd has, over the past 16 years, established its
credentials in the road data collection field and currently enjoys the position of being Southern Africa's leading traffic data
service provider.
Welcome to the team … TOGETHER we are making our country’s roads safer for both wildlife and road users.
The Wildlife and Roads Project would also like to extend a huge thank you to
Mopane Bush Lodge who have supported our project for the last three years,
and welcome Kaoxa Bush Camp as new supporters.
Limpopo Valley views
Kaoxa Bush Camp (http://kaoxacamp.com/) is located in the Greater
Mapungubwe Transfrontier Area near the boundaries of Botswana,
Zimbabwe and South Africa. The Limpopo Valley is known for its majestic
Baobab trees and cultural landscape and is adjacent to Mapungubwe
National Park.
Wendy Collinson, the project executant for the Wildlife and Roads Project is fortunate enough to reside at Kaoxa, where she has
been working in partnership with De Beers Group of Companies to examine ways of minimising the impacts of roads on wildlife.
We are busy analysing the data from our roadkill surveys, and can’t wait to share our findings with you.
Be sure to look out for Wendy if you visit the area, or better still come and stay at Kaoxa Bush Camp
[email protected])
STRONG DATA FROM THE ENDANGERED WILDLIFE TRUST’S LATEST ROADKILL SURVEY
BRAKE FOR WILDLIFE: ROADKILL IN PROTECTED AREAS
Surveys of wild animals killed by passing traffic (roadkill) have produced strong data and several recommendations. This is as a
result of recent investigations into the issue of roadkill in the Pilanesberg National Park.
The surveys, conducted by the EWT between 21 October and 23
November 2014, consisted of on-site investigation of roadkill, as
well as questionnaires completed by 302 visitors to the park. Of
the 120 roadkill observed by the roadkill research team, 62 were
amphibians, 27 were reptiles, 20 were birds, ten were mammals
and one was not identifiable.
Vehicle numbers were monitored through the use of traffic
counting devices. However, the roadkill research team soon
discovered that elephants had taken a liking to the devices and
damaged them. Drawing on previous research which has shown
that elephants dislike the smell of chilli pepper, the team then
applied a daily coating of chilli pepper and oil onto the counters.
The traffic counting devices were then protected from further
damage.
Working in the field: identifying a roadkill snake
One of the most interesting aspects of the project was the role of
speed in contributing to roadkill. “More than 95% of respondents
to the questionnaire survey believe that speed is the sole cause
of roadkill. Our aim was to investigate this opinion in more
detail,” said the EWT's Wildlife and Roads Project Executant,
Wendy Collinson.
One of our fake animals – a brightly coloured-snake
Compliance with park speed limits was found to be reasonably
high, with 72% of the 6,981 vehicles monitored driving at, or
below, the speed limits. “We postulated that roadkill was likely to
occur because drivers were either unaware of their surroundings
or travelling too fast to be able to avoid collisions. To investigate
these factors we monitored a sample of 201 vehicles and nearly
70% of the drivers were observed to not be looking at the road,
but rather scanning the bush for wildlife", said Collinson. “This
suggests that many of the roadkill in national parks happen
because of the expectation that animals are to be found in the
habitat alongside the road, rather than on the road itself”, she
added.
The same sample of vehicles was used to investigate the role of
speed in determining rates of roadkill. The research team placed
three fake animals on the road, and recorded how many times
each roadkill was hit (for a total possible hit count of 603
roadkill). We also recorded how fast each vehicle was driving,
assigning them to one of three speed categories, namely <20
km/h, 21-40 km/h and >40 km/h. We found no significant
difference between hit rates of drivers in each of the speed
categories, with approximately 50% of drivers hitting the fake
roadkill across the board.
“From our survey, it seems that observation levels of the driver,
rather than the speed of the vehicle, is the key factor in the
number of roadkill incidents,” Collinson commented. “One of our recommendations from the latest roadkill survey is that a
driver awareness campaign be launched in parks to make drivers more aware of animals on the roads themselves,” Collinson
commented. Collinson also said she was concerned about the low awareness levels of roadkill among park visitors. “Of the 284
respondents who had visited a park previously, only 2.8% had noticed roadkill, with 6.3% noticing a roadkill on their current
visit,” she explained.
The Wildlife and Roads Project in action in Pilanesberg National Park
Steven Dell, Pilanesberg National Park’s Field Ecologist remarked, “despite the use of road signs both at the park gates and
within the park, as well as efforts to raise public awareness of roadkill, roadkill still occurs. This project was extremely beneficial
to the park as it has assisted in identifying the cause of roadkill and will enable us to focus our future public awareness efforts.”
Bridgestone PR Manager, Desirée van Niekerk, said the results of the latest roadkill survey had proved as fascinating as ever.
“Bridgestone has been involved with the roadkill project for three years now, and we applaud Wendy and her team's
contribution to both road safety and wildlife protection,” she said. “We hope these latest findings will soon be used to improve
the quality of the experience of park visitors and safeguard the animals in these protected areas,” she concluded.
The next stage of the project will shortly commence in Addo Elephant National Park through a joint collaboration between the
EWT and Rhodes University.
The EWT’s Wildlife and Roads Project in Pilanesberg was supported by Bridgestone SA, Arrow Bulk Logistics, Pilanesberg
National Park, Copenhagen Zoo, Mikros Traffic Monitoring and Africa: Live. For further information please contact Wendy
Collinson on [email protected]
A ROADKILL MITIGATION SUCCESS STORY
The Greater Mapungubwe Transfrontier Conservation Area (GMTFCA) in the Limpopo Province was declared a World Heritage
Site in 2003 and is recognised as an important area for conservation and cultural heritage.
In 2013, with support from Bridgestone SA and De
Beers Group Services, the EWT conducted intensive
surveys of wildlife killed on the roads traversing the
GMTFCA. The results of this work showed that roads
were having a significant impact on wildlife in the
GMTFCA. Over a 120-day period, 1121 roadkill
carcasses were detected, as well as a major roadkill
hotspot identified.
The presence of a roadkill hotspot presented the
EWT and De Beers Group Services with an important
opportunity to assess the effectiveness of roadside
fencing in directing wildlife to cross the road through
existing culverts.
Working in the field: identifying a roadkill shrew
As roadkill has been found to be highest during the
spring and summer months, we elected to repeat
the route driven in 2013, a 100 km paved and 20 km
unpaved transect, for 40 days during January and
February of 2015. We found that average daily traffic
volumes had increased from 200 to 600 vehicles per
day and that roadkill numbers had increased from
368 to 717 over the sampling period. Comprising a
total of 97 different vertebrate species, birds were
the most impacted species, followed by reptiles
(187), mammals (149), and amphibians (62).
In order to assess the effectiveness of the mitigation
measure, we drove for 20 days with no mitigation in
place, before installing the roadside fencing for the
latter 20 days along a 12 km roadkill hotspot section
of the 100 km paved road.
Assembling the fence
The roadside fencing is only effective for small
mammals, reptiles and amphibians, since birds and larger species will not be deterred by low fencing. Despite this, and the fact
that roadkill numbers remained high for the unmitigated sections, we found one roadkill (Scrub Hare) at the end of one of the
roadside fences.
Data are still being analysed and a full report will be available shortly.
We now need to assess the benefits of installing
more permanent structures on the roadside that
will enable us to conduct long-term monitoring of
the impacts on roadkill.
The EWT’s Wildlife and Roads Project in the
GMTFCA was supported by De Beers Group
Services, Bridgestone SA, Mikros Traffic Monitoring
and Mopane Bush Lodge. For further information
please
contact
Wendy
Collinson
on
[email protected]
Under-road culvert with drift fencing
AFRICAN CIVETS AND ROADS
Pamela Amiard - MSc Wildlife Management, University of Reims Champargne-Ardenne, France.
Last year, for my Master’s thesis in Wildlife Management, I had the opportunity to come to South Africa to study the ecology of
a small carnivore, the African Civet (Civettictis civetta).
The African Civet is fairly common in Sub-Saharan Africa. In South Africa, populations seem to be healthy, for example I found
2
more than ten African Civet/100 km at Mogalakwena Game Reserve, near Alldays, Limpopo. However, despite the relative
abundance across their range, little is known about this elusive species. Therefore, the aim of this project is to collect data on
the habitat use, movement pattern, home range and diet of the African Civet in order to better understand this species.
The study site will be based at Mogalakwena Game Reserve,
where we will use camera traps to assist in identifying
individuals (since they are easily recognisable due to individual
coat patterns) as well as the use of sign surveys to investigate
the populations’ demography as well as African Civet
behaviour. We will also attempt to deploy the use of two radiocollars.
Camera trap picture of an African Civet showing the unique
coat patterning
© Mogalakwena Research Centre
African Civet are omnivorous and opportunistic foragers and
take advantage of resource abundance. During our previous
study of African Civet, we observed that African Civet fed
exclusively on fruit trees and ingest high quantities at a time
during the fruiting season (up to 60% of the diet). Due to this
behavior, African Civet are ideal candidates for seed dispersal
and, through the use of scat collection, we will further
investigate their role in seed dispersal.
Further to this, African Civet appear to have evolved their
opportunistic foraging to raid crops. With little research done
to verify this, scat analysis and sign surveys in crop lands may
go some way to investigating this, and thus minimise potential
conflict between humans and African Civet.
Although there is no major threat as yet to the species, road
collisions, fences between private reserves and persecution by
farmers may impact local populations. African Civets are one of the
three most-common mammal species killed on the roads in the
Limpopo Province, and little is known why this species are at such threat from roads and road users. Through the use of trackplots along roadsides and roadkill transect surveys, we will assess the parameters that potentially influence the presence and
behavior of this species on roads.
Details of a civetry (communal latrine used by African
Civet) where we can see the large amount of seeds
For further information please contact Pamela Amiard on [email protected]
THANK YOU TO ALL OUR VOLUNTEERS WHO CONTINUE TO SUBMIT THEIR ROADKILL DATA FROM
ACROSS THE COUNTRY – you really are making a difference on our country’s roads!
RISING TO THE CHALLENGE OF SUPPORTING OUR WORK AND COLLECTING ROADKILL DATA, three motorbike enthusiasts
collected roadkill data as they enjoyed a two-week epic motorbike adventure in the Karoo….
BIKING4WILDLIFE
On 1 November 2014, three motor biking enthusiasts, Nicholas Yell, Dirk Ackerman and Jaco
Loots, set off on a two week bike ride to the Karoo, in the Western Cape to highlight the
plight of our African wildlife affected by roads and transport. The bikers collected roadkill
data for the EWT.
The three bikers then challenged members of the public to also collect roadkill between 1
November 2014 and 31 January 2015, with some great prizes up for grabs for those who
submitted the most roadkill data.
Nick Yell in action
Many thousands of entries later, the winners of the roadkill data collection competition were
determined and the prizes handed over to the lucky winners. The winners were:
st
1 prize: Beryl Wilson of the Northern Cape with 261 entries.
nd
2 prize: Fontini Babletakis of Cape Town with 110 entries.
rd
3 prize: Bert Kleinhans of Stilbaai in the Western Cape with 25 entries.
4 x consolation prizes: Francois Breed, Lientjie Cohen; Hardy Steynberg and
Rowen van Eeden.
Thank you to EVERYONE who submitted data and
thanks again to our prize sponsors at Bikegear and
FG Enterprises.
Beryl Wilson – our 1st prize winner
And the challenge is not over …..we
challenge you to record as much roadkill
data as possible and send it to us.
We invite you to continue to submit roadkill data
and photographs. Participants should specify the
location of the roadkill (preferably GPS coordinates), try to identify the species seen and
record the date on which it was seen.
Bert Kleinhans – our 3rd prize
winner
Recorded roadkill sightings and photographs can be sent to [email protected] and
via the EWT's Road Watch South Africa smartphone app which can be downloaded
on http://www.prismsw.com/roadwatch/android/RoadWatchSouthAfrica.apk.
Fontini Babletakis – our 2nd prize winner
The South African iTunes store also offers a facility to download the EWT's Road Watch app for iPhone users. Additional
information is available on www.ewt.org.za.
Good identification photos (particularly if the carcass is very squashed) requires a little bit of attention.
Only stop and take a photo if it is safe to do so, then try and record the following:
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BIRDS: Tail and wing feathers / beak and feet (if the
whole bird is no longer there) and eye
REPTILES: Scales / head shape / foot shape (if
applicable)
AMPHIBIANS: foot shape (webbed) / presence of warts
/ colouration around head and eye
MAMMALS: fur / hair colour / body size / teeth type
(carnivore or herbivore)
Generate even more data for conservation with the free Africa: Live app.
You can also use the Africa: Live app to add your roadkill reports, including photos, to our data pool. The
free Apple and Android app - which won the Best Travel App in Africa Award 2014 - also allows you to
report live animal sightings (other than rhino) anywhere in Africa and the crowd-sourced data (more than
70,000 sightings have been added) are shared with lots of conservation groups to support their research
efforts. The live sightings map, links to download and lots of more information can be found at
www.wildafricalive.com or contact Rob Maclean at [email protected]
NEW PAPER PUBLISHED ON ROADKILL IN TANZANIA
We are very excited on our recent collaboration with the School for Field Studies in Karatu, Tanzania, and
the Department of Environmental Studies, Davidson College, Davidson, NC, USA on a the publication of
scientific paper in the journal, African Zoology, that documents roadkill in Tanzania.
Kioko, J., Kiffner, C., Jenkins, N., & Collinson, W. J. (2015). Wildlife roadkill patterns on a major highway in
northern Tanzania. African Zoology, (ahead-of-print), 1-6.
Abstract
Despite expanding road networks, there is limited understanding of the effects of roads on wildlife in East Africa. We present a
baseline survey and describe the patterns of roadkill in the Tarangire–Manyara ecosystem of Tanzania. A 75 km stretch of the
Arusha Highway that passes adjacent to Manyara Ranch and Lake Manyara National Park was studied for 10 consecutive days in
November 2013 (the rainy season). Wildlife species killed on the road, roadkill frequency and road characteristics were
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determined. A total of 101 roadkill were recorded (0.13 roadkill km ) comprising 37 species from all terrestrial vertebrate
groups, of which two species, house cat (Felis catus) and domestic dog (Canis lupus), were domesticated species. Birds were the
most frequently killed taxon (50%), followed by mammals (30%), reptiles (17%) and amphibians (3%). Excluding birds, roadkill
primarily consisted of nocturnal species (65%) versus diurnal species (35%). Most roadkill (77.3%) were encountered on road
stretches adjacent to protected areas of Manyara Ranch and Lake Manyara National Park compared with 22.7% on the road
stretches adjacent to non-protected areas. These findings highlight that roads are a potential threat to wildlife in East Africa and
serve as a baseline for future comparisons.
A further collaboration is underway with our colleagues in Tanzania that examines the attitudes of drivers towards wildlife on
roads.
THE HANDBOOK OF ROAD ECOLOGY
Here at last …..
Linear infrastructure, such as roads, railways, power lines, pipelines, tracks and trails and
the vehicles that travel on them are critical to supporting economic growth and
development. However, the ecological impacts of linear infrastructure and vehicles can be
massive, and usually negative. These impacts include habitat loss, fragmentation of
habitats and populations, mortality of wildlife due to collision with vehicles, weed and
pest animal invasion, changes to microclimates, elevated rates of poaching and wildfires,
to name but a few. Fortunately, the Handbook of Road Ecology, published by Wiley in July
2015, provides solutions to each of these issues, plus more, ensuring that if adopted, the
future transportation networks can achieve economic growth while avoiding or
minimising the negative ecological and environmental outcomes.
The Handbook of Road Ecology is an authoritative volume with 62 chapters from more
than 100 of the world’s leading researchers, academics, practitioners and transportation
agency personnel from 25 countries. The book spans the project continuum, including
planning, approval, funding, design, construction, maintenance, with the need for
research and monitoring emphasised throughout.
Each chapter summarises important take-home lessons and principles of relevance to all types of linear infrastructure, and all
stages in the life of a project, including retrofitting of existing infrastructure. Chapters are stand-alone, but the extensive crossreferencing ensures that the information and best-practice case studies complement each other without repetition. With over
550 pages and richly illustrated with colour photos and drawings, the Handbook of Road Ecology is an essential reference with
practical and innovative advice and solutions.
The Handbook of Road Ecology is an accessible resource for practitioners in developing and developed countries, as well as
government transportation agencies, government environmental and conservation agencies, NGOs, and road-funding and donor
organisations.
Chapters published by the EWT in the Handbook of Road Ecology:
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Collinson, W., Parker, D., Patterson‐Abrolat, C., Alexander, G., & Davies‐Mostert, H. (2015). SETJHABA SA, SOUTH
AFRIKA: A SOUTH AFRICAN PERSPECTIVE OF AN EMERGING TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE. Handbook of Road Ecology,
439.
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Shilling, F., Perkins, S. E., & Collinson, W. (2015). Wildlife/roadkill observation and reporting systems. Handbook of
Road Ecology, 492.
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Whittington‐Jones, B., & Davies‐Mostert, H. (2015). Case study: African wild dogs and the fragmentation menace.
Handbook of Road Ecology, 322.
RAIL
ENVIRONMENT MINISTRY FAVOURS ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE ALONG RAILWAY ROUTES TO PREVENT
TRAIN-ELEPHANT COLLISIONS …. A solution for the South African elephant?
Mayank Aggarwal
In India, the Ministry of Environmental and Forests (MoEF) has introduced
electronic surveillance and wireless sensors, to reduce the high number of
elephant fatalities due to collision with trains. This system is also capable of
tracking elephant movement in order to warn the train drivers of the presence of
elephants in their area. This is in addition to reduction of speed of trains in areas
frequented by elephants and will hopefully result in protecting elephants and also
save lives as a result of collisions of trains and elephants.
Of the total estimated population of wild Asian elephants, an endangered species,
over 50 % is found in India. Of the total estimated population of 41, 000 - 52,000,
around 26, 000-30,000 elephants are in India alone. Few years ago in 2010, the
central government had declared elephant as an animal of national heritage.
MARINE
MARINE POLLUTION
The most obvious and visual impact of transport on wildlife is when there is a collision. This can either be with a car, train,
aircraft or a ship. However, the indirect effects of transportation, while less apparent, are of equal concern. Roads may create
unstable metapopulations by fragmenting habitat, restricting animal movements and increasing the functional isolation of
populations. In addition, vehicle emissions contribute to air pollution, and rainwater run-off tends to pick up petrol, motor oil,
and other pollutants resulting in water pollution, which all indirectly impact wildlife populations. The same is true of our oceans,
where oil spills, toxic wastes and plastics are familiar marine pollutants.
South Africa has approximately 3000 km of coastline, much of it `high energy'
with strong winds and waves which disperse pollutants. Many large coastal
towns are situated on bays, e.g. Saldanha, Table, False, Mossel, Algoa and
Richards Bays. These areas receive large amounts of pollution which is not
dispersed and mixed with the greater ocean as a result of the protection
offered by the bay.
Marine debris
Eutrophication (when the environment becomes enriched with nutrients, for
example, fertilisers) in South Africa used to be limited to inland waters, e.g.
Hartebeespoort Dam, but is now occurring in semi-enclosed marine water
bodies. Increased numbers of people cause increased pollution. This is compounded by the fact that stormwater from urban
areas runs off hardened surfaces rather than filtering through porous ground, thus increasing the volume of contaminated water
reaching the sea. Destruction of wetlands, which filter and slow water flow, intensifies this problem.
South Africa lies on one of the world's busiest shipping routes. Rough seas, an ageing world tanker fleet, human error, and
deliberate discharge, make oil pollution a real threat around our coasts. South Africa has developed contingency plans allowing
equipment and manpower to be mobilised at short notice to protect beaches, estuaries, bird colonies and other sensitive areas
in the event of a major spill.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
* Do not dispose of toxic wastes or used motor oil in drains as they often end up in rivers, and then in the sea.
* Pick up litter as you walk along the beach.
* Be alert and report any sign of marine pollution to the Department of Environment Affairs and Tourism
Reference: http://www.botany.uwc.ac.za/envfacts/facts/marinepollution.htm
In 2013, the EWT commissioned a study into the scope and extent of collisions between marine vessels (cargo ships, cruise
liners, and recreational vehicles) and marine species, such as whales, sharks, dolphins, marine turtles, penguins and seals. We
are excitedly awaiting the outcome of the report now being converted into a scientific paper for international publication in a
peer-reviewed journal. We will keep you updated on its progress.
NEWS AND VIEWS
MIKLÓS PUKY
We were very sad to hear the news that one of our esteemed colleagues in the field
of Road Ecology and member of the Infra Eco Network Europe (IENE) Steering
Committee, Miklós Puky, unexpectedly passed away on Friday, March 20. He
suffered a severe heart attack while being in the midst of his work with road
ecology.
Miklós Puky was a highly influential Hungarian ecologist, working at the Hungarian
Academy of Sciences, Centre for Ecological Research. He significantly helped to reestablish the IENE network in 2008 and is fondly remembered by many colleagues
for his special humour, charm, and his dedication to amphibians, roads and culture.
Miklós was a wonderful role-model and was incredibly supportive of our work in
South Africa. On behalf of the EWT, we would like to express our sincere
condolences to Miklós’ family.
“GOING THE EXTRA MILE”
What is the WTP’S “Going the Extra Mile”?
Since 2011, the Wildlife and Roads Project has been working closely with a number of volunteers
and stakeholders. As word of our project spreads, more and more volunteers are offering to
collect data on our behalf. These data enable us to identify areas of concern, where most roadkill
is occurring, and mitigation is most needed.
The WRP has also established relationships with a number of stakeholders, such as
Environmental Assessment Practitioners (EAP), governmental bodies, academic institutions,
developers, as well as forming partnerships with business and industry. These partnerships are
integral to the promotion and development of our programme, and input is now being made into
the design and maintenance of roads and development of future projects, all of which will lessen
the impact of roads on South African fauna and flora.
We would therefore like to acknowledge and thank our supporters though awarding “Going the Extra Mile”. These awards
are to recognise the valuable contributions that these deserving individuals have made towards our programme and helping
us achieving our goals.
This month, we would like to nominate Ronelle Visagie of the EWT’s Birds of Prey Programme (EWT-BoPP). Ronelle has been
involved in the rehabilitation of raptors and the education of the public around raptors in the Karoo for nearly 20 years. This
dedication has saved the lives of countless birds, and has had a major impact on the attitudes of
the community towards raptors. As more human beings filter into more parts of the world, the
pressure on raptors and other wildlife is increasing. Poisoning incidents, vehicle collisions, power
line collisions, reservoir drowning and persecution are just some of the many threats facing
raptors, all being addressed daily by the EWT-BoPP.
It’s quite unusual for us to nominate ‘one of our own’ for this award, but Ronelle has been
incredibly supportive of our work for the last year. She regularly submits roadkill data, and if it
was not for the fact that EWT staff were not eligible to partake in the Biking4Wildlife Challenge,
she would have been a worthy winner. Ronelle submitted almost 1500 roadkill sightings for 2014.
NEWSFLASH
WELCOME
The Wildlife and Roads Project has certainly had a busy start to 2015, with an array of exciting projects about to commence
across the country. We would like to introduce you to some of our researchers who will be undertaking a range of road ecologyrelated research projects in South Africa, and we will be receiving regular updates of their work in future newsletters.
Welcome to the team, and thank you to all our collaborators at the University of the Free State, Rhodes University and the
University of Venda:
Aliza le Roux (PhD), Senior Lecturer: Dept. of Zoology & Entomology
University of the Free State, Qwaqwa
Aliza is the principal investigator of the Mammalian Cognition Research Group at the
University of the Free State’s Qwaqwa Campus. Aliza says, “I started this research
group because I am intensely curious about the way that wild animals’ minds work,
and very few people in South Africa are looking at animals from that angle. We are
proud of our natural heritage, but leave the “fun” research to foreigners. And I think
it’s important for us to understand the minds of wild animals: it can help us manage
our (poor) relationship with species like baboons, and maybe give clues to humane
ways of reducing livestock predation by clever predators.”
Although Aliza and her students are studying several wild mammals, the main focus
these days is the bat-eared fox. Aliza adds, “I am particularly interested in their parental care system, which is highly unusual for
mammals. The father actually takes care of his pups! In theory, it all hinges upon their termite-based diet, but this is still mostly
speculation and a large part of my research tries to understand how this extensive paternal care affects the foxes’ development
and cognitive abilities.”
Aliza was drawn into a collaboration with the EWT because she had noticed a number of bat-eared foxes found dead on the
roads. Naturally, she wanted to know what we can do to stop the rather large-scale killing of such a unique little carnivore.
Together with the EWT, she will be tackling the problem from a number of different angles: some of the students will analyse
GIS data to work out where the foxes are most vulnerable to vehicles, some are collecting data on the distribution of foxes’ food
relative to roads, and Aliza plans to create an agent-based model that can predict which factors are most strongly linked to the
deaths of foxes on our roads.
Aliza adds, “I am not simply a fox-fanatic, though, and I hope to use these charismatic and (for now) abundant canids to also
examine the real drivers and solutions to our roadkill problem in South Africa.”
To view more details about Aliza’s research, please visit her Research Gate profile:
http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Aliza_Le_Roux or contact her on: [email protected]
Stéphanie Périquet, Post-doctoral research
University of the Free State
Stéphanie was born in France and admits to being passionate about African wildlife, especially carnivores, ever since her first
trip to Namibia in 1999. Since then, she worked for seven years (2008-2013) in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe within the
Biometry and Evolutionary Biology Lab (LBBE, CNRS) and the University of Lyon 1 (France). During this time, she studied for her
Master’s degree examining the group dynamics in plain zebras before focussing on
the behavioural response (vigilance) of various prey species to the presence of their
main predator, namely lions; this was in collaboration with the Hwange Lion
Research group from WildCRU, based at Oxford University.
From there, Stéphanie then spent a year working on a research project in Spain
which examined the impact of roads on ungulate distribution, before heading to the
States where she conducted research on the coexistence of medium-sized predators
through camera trapping. But, “Africa was my thing”, says Stéphanie, so she began
her PhD in 2010 in Hwange National Park with the LBBE studying the coexistence
between spotted hyenas and lions, and focusing on understanding how hyenas cope with the presence of the big cats.
Stéphanie’s main research interests are in understanding how interactions between carnivore species affect their spatiotemporal use of their environment, which led her to pursue post-doctoral research at the University of the Free State.
Stéphanie’s post-doctoral research will focus on Bat-eared Foxes and how they utilise their habitat and range depending on
season and food availability; in addition, she will examine how the presence of pups affect their parents spatio-temporal use of
their home range.
Part of Stéphanie’s work will also be in collaboration with Endangered Wildlife Trust’s Wildlife and Roads Project. Stéphanie will
be liaising closely with Lizanne Roxburgh, the EWT’s Senior Scientist, who is responsible for overseeing much of the EWT’s
database. Lizanne has been integral in designing the database for which the public have been submitting their roadkill sightings
for the country. Stéphanie’s role will be in providing a basic description and analysis of the citizen-based data collection across
South Africa. The goal will then be to map the road causalities, identify high-risk areas, and try to understand what causes the
roadkill hotspot, and ultimately propose roadkill-reduction measures. This preliminary work will aid and guide future protocol in
identifying high-risk areas for roadkill.
Stéphanie says, that whenever she is not working, she enjoys spending time in the bush and taking pictures, especially of wildlife
and landscapes.
To view more details about Stéphanie’s research, please visit her Research Gate profile:
http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Stephanie_Periquet or contact her on: [email protected]
Seloba Chuene, PhD Candidate
University of Venda, Supervisor: Prof. Peter Taylor
Seloba grew up in Seshego, a township 10 km to the north of Polokwane (Pietersberg), Limpopo.
He obtained his BSc in Microbiology and Botany, with his Honours degree in Botany from the
University of Limpopo, where he is currently finalising his MSC in Plant Ecology.
Seloba has volunteered on a number of biodiversity projects, namely the Custodians of Rare and
Endangered Wildflowers (CREW-SANBI) and the Limpopo branch of the Botanical Society (Botsoc),
where he helped document plants that are endemic to Limpopo Province and have been listed in
the Red Data of South African Plants. In addition, he has assisted the Capricorn District
Municipality in a project entitled “An assessment of the threats and control of Cylindropuntia
imbricate at Vergelegen area in the Blouberg Local Municipality of Limpopo Province”. His role
was to advise on field survey methods to capture the population dynamics of the species in
question. Seloba is also actively involved in a project with the Polokwane Local Municipality to
develop strategies on how best to conserve Euphorbia groenewaldii, a rare and critically
endangered plant species endemic to Nobody Village in Limpopo.
The EWT is excited to welcome Seloba to the road ecology team, through a joint collaboration between the EWT, the University
of Venda, the Vhembe Biosphere Reserve and Green Matter. Seloba will be using his flora background to determine the impacts
caused by roads on biodiversity in the Vhembe Biosphere Reserve (VBR), Limpopo Provence. “Reasonable progress has been
made in South Africa on the most evident consequence of roads, which is animal-vehicle-collisions (AVCs)”, says Seloba,
“however, this new project will focus on both components of biodiversity (fauna and flora) by linking the influence flora
fragmentation has on fauna migration. This will take South African road ecology to the next level, where little work has been
done to-date on the impacts of roads on flora.”
Some of the outcomes of this enormous undertaking will provide sensitivity maps for roads, highlighting hotspot areas in the
VBR for AVCs, as well as hotspots on roads related to ‘biodiversity crimes’ – a major threat to both flora and fauna alike in South
Africa. For more information, contact Seloba Chuene on: [email protected]
Gareth David Nuttall-Smith, Honours candidate
Rhodes University, Supervisor: Dr. Daniel Parker
Gareth grew up in Botswana and was exposed to wildlife from a very early age. He says,
“I have always had a passion for the bush and wildlife and knew that I wanted to work in
the bush, in one way or another”. Gareth’s passion was realized, as after completing his
BSc degree at Rhodes University, majoring in Zoology and Botany, he came to realise,
that it is through education that he can make a difference to conservation. He is
currently in his Honours year at Rhodes University, studying African Vertebrate
Biodiversity.
As a part of his Honours year, Gareth will be assisting with the EWT’s ‘Roadkill in
Protected Areas’ project. With work now completed in Pilanesberg National Park (PNP), the project has expanded to Addo
Elephant National Park (AENP). Gareth will be spending two-days per month in AENP where he will continue in the same vein as
work undertaken in PNP, and gather roadkill data from within the park. In addition to any roadkill that he detects, he will assess
the ecological characteristics of the landscape (e.g. habitat / vegetation type / proximity of water sources, etc.) and road (e.g.
proximity of lodges / entrance gates) and traffic (e.g. speed and volume) characteristics, and model where roadkill is most likely
to occur. These models will identify which areas of the park have potential high, medium, or low risk for roadkill which will allow
comparison of roadkill rates and assess the effectiveness of the model.
On completion of the project, a database of roadkill incidents in AENP will be prepared for management purposes. This will
guide further research, specifically for roadkill-reduction measures in other protected areas (involving other wildlife
departments and organizations) of the country.
For further information please contact Wendy Collinson on
[email protected]
[email protected] or Gareth Nuttall-Smith on
The ‘Roadkill in Protected Areas’ project in AENP is supported by Bridgestone SA, Arrowbulk Logistics, Mikros Traffic Monitoring,
SANParks and is a joint collaboration between the Endangered Wildlife Trust and Rhodes University.
Agnes Mkotywa, Honours candidate
University of the Free State
Agnes was born in 1992 in Ficksburg, Free State. In 2011, she began her BSc degree (Botany) at
the University of the Free State, Qwaqwa Campus, where she is currently studying for her Honours
in Zoology. Agnes says, “when I first went to university, I was a passionate botanist. Having taken a
number of modules in Zoology at the university, I really fell in love with Zoology, particularly the
conservation module during my third year of my BSc”.
Agnes’ Honours project will be a joint collaboration between the University of the Free State and
the EWT. The EWT has been creating road sensitivity maps for species at threat from roads; Agnes
will continue with this project, but focus specifically on threatened mammals in KwaZulu-Natal. The
goal will be to identify and summarise the characteristics of selected mammal species that make
them most vulnerable to becoming roadkill. This will be undertaken using a literature review and
mortality data from the EWT roadkill database.
Once mammals most at threat from roads have been identified, we will create sensitivity maps for
each threatened species to identify the areas of the province which have the highest threat of road mortality.
Dr Aliza le Roux (University of the Free State) will supervise Agnes’ Honours project with co-supervision from Dr Lizanne
Roxburgh (EWT- Conservation Science Unit, Senior Scientist).
Agnes says that in her spare time, she likes to listen to music and hang around with other Zoology students, and debate the
future of the planet.
For further information please contact Agnes Mkotywa on [email protected]
THE TEAM
Wendy Collinson is the Wildlife and Roads Project Executant which falls under the EWT’s National
Biodiversity and Business Network (NBBN).
In 2010, Wendy initiated a project (as part of her MSc thesis through Rhodes University) that formed
the basis for the future development of the first national multi-species protocol for the monitoring of
roadkill in South Africa. This protocol was implemented in the Greater Mapungubwe Transfrontier
Conservation Area (GMTFCA) in the northern Limpopo Valley of South Africa, a World Heritage Site,
and identified the factors affecting roadkill rates, species composition and any other variables that may
affect roadkill rates.
Wendy has successfully co-ordinated a number of road ecology workshops which led to the
development of a five-year action plan. In addition, she has created a national network forum which
will continue to raise awareness and further quantify the issue at hand through proactive mitigation measures such as a Roadkill
Sensitivity Map and best practice guidelines to guide road development. Wendy is continuing to motivate for further research to
be undertaken that examines the impacts of roads in South Africa, and is liaising with South African institutions regarding the
design of future projects. This body of knowledge will contribute to the development and planning decisions of future road
design, which will lessen the impact of roads on South African fauna and flora.
Wendy loves reading, playing Scrabble and walks with her dogs in the bush with her partner, Pierre .
To contact Wendy about her role: [email protected]
Shelley Lizzio is the manager of the EWT’s National Biodiversity and Business Network (NBBN), a
programme under which the Wildlife and Roads Project is managed. The NBBN is a South Africanbased network of businesses, industries and related stakeholders, including government, NGOs and
academic institutions. The aim of the network is to facilitate engagement amongst its members and to
support the mainstreaming of biodiversity into business agendas and operations.
Shelley joined the EWT in August 2013 after spending seven years working in the mining industry
where she was involved in the mainstreaming of biodiversity into the mining business. Her core
interest lies at the interface of business and biodiversity. Shelley loves mountain biking, travelling and
spending time with her husband, family and friends.
To contact Shelley about her role: [email protected]
Claire Patterson-Abrolat manages the Special Projects portfolio. This portfolio gives the EWT capacity
to take on projects they would not otherwise have been able to, and to explore new areas of work to
determine emerging issues and assess whether or not the EWT needs to invest further resources in
these potential areas of concern.
Claire is passionate about vehicle-wildlife collisions – or rather the prevention of them – and is a strong
supporter of this important project.
To contact Claire about her role: [email protected]
And, one of the most important members of our team, who has been integral in providing support to the Wildlife and Roads
Project and the EWT’s National Biodiversity and Business Network is Laura Goodman.
Laura grew up, and is based, in Johannesburg. In 2014, she completed her MA in Environmental
Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. Her thesis focused on print media's
representation of climate change and how these media representations affect people's perceptions of
climate change. Laura has a keen interest in a wide range of environmental issues and topics.
Laura has been a volunteer with the EWT since November 2014 where, amongst her other roles, she is
responsible for roadkill data capture. Laura maintains the roadkill database, and rigorously checks and
then enters all of our public roadkill data submissions. This is no easy task, as she has to confirm the
accuracy of the GPS co-ordinates and verify the identification of the roadkill species. We are very lucky
to have Laura to assist us with this.
A ON A LIGHTER NOTE ….
AND CHECK OUT THE FOLLOWING FOR UPDATES ON OUR RECENT WORK…
Blog:
Facebook:
LinkedIn:
GivenGain:
Twitter:
http://endangeredwildlifetrust.wordpress.com
https://www.facebook.com/EndangeredWildlifeTrust
http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Roadkill-Research
http://www.givengain.com/cause/2347/projects/14490/
@EwtRoads
We’ve also created a global Road Ecology Facebook page, so we can share more ideas with our neighbours in other countries:
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/roadecology/
You can now use the free Africa: Live app to report record roadkills directly to EWT. We've added a new category "dead roadkill"
https://www.facebook.com/africaliveapp
TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT INDIVIDUAL OR CORPORATE SPONSORSHIPS OR PARTNERSHIPS, PLEASE CONTACT:
Debbie Thiart (Fundraiser: individual initiatives and social media) at [email protected]
Carla van Rooyen (Senior Fundraising Officer: Corporate and Private Sector) at [email protected]
Frank Jackson (Fundraising Officer: Corporate and Private Sector) at [email protected]
Tim Jackson (Technical Proposal Developer) at [email protected]
PARTNERS AND THANKS
SUPPORTERS OF THE WILDLIFE AND ROADS PROJECT
PARTNERSHIPS / COLLABORATIONS / MEMBERS