An obvious sign of potential human impact on animal populations is roadkill.

In Tasmania, this impact is perceived as relatively greater than in other Australian states, and is often noted by visitors and locals. Information presented here is from a three-year study to assess the frequency and distribution of species killed on Tasmanian roads. Seasonal surveys were completed along five major routes, for a total of 154 trips. Over 15 000 km of road were surveyed and 5691 individuals in 54 taxa were recorded for an average roadkill density of 0.372 km-1. Over 50% of encountered roadkill could be identified to species, with common brushtail possums and Tasmanian pademelon the most common species identified, both in overall numbers and frequency of trips encountered. The 10 most common taxa accounted for 99% of the items observed.

How to use these data

Look at the maps provided at left to identify high roadkill regions before your journey. If you have a vehicle GPS you can download the Point of Interest files to your GPS - this will alert you to roadkill hotspots during your journey.

What you can do

Consider reducing your speed in regions where roadkill density is high. Roadkill are more common at particular times of year, on roads where high speeds are possible, and in "hotspots". Mitigation measures, such as reducing vehicle speed in specific areas may be effective in reducing the number of animals killed. We recommend a vehicle speed of less than 80 km/hr at night will reduce the chance of killing an animal that is encountered on the road.