Drive to Preserve Australian Wildlife

Driving in Australia can be a hazard for you if you hit a roo. But mostly, it's a hazard for the wildlife that unwittingly venture out onto our roads. If you want to help keep the wildlife encounters right down, here are some ideas.




Steps

1. Be a defensive driver. This means being alert at all times and being ready for the unexpected. Know in advance if you are driving through an area of high wildlife; usually there will be signs alerting you and other clear indicators include bush, trees, grass on the verges etc. And droppings and other roadkill are also big indicators.
   
2. Keep your speed to allow for wildlife stopping distances. 90 kph is a recommended wildlife speed on open stretches of road; lower for curvy and blind corner roads. Much lower for nighttime driving.
   
3. Drive during the day in rural, outback, mountainous and wilderness areas. Most Australian native animals are active at night. If you do have to drive in these areas at between dusk and dawn, slow down! This is a time for careful driving rather than fast driving. Use all your headlights at night (front and side) and make sure that they are in good working order.
   
4. Take extra care during drought and prolonged dry seasons. Roadside vegetation becomes very attractive when all else has been munched out. More wildlife will be around during drier seasons.
   
5. Slow down when you see wildlife. As soon as you spot wildlife, slow right down. The animal doesn't know that you just intend to drive on through; it will be afraid and may react by running at you rather than from you. Give it wide berth and time to pass safely across the road or back to where it came from. Small toots as you slow right down can help discourage it from your car but only do this if no other cars are around or it could simply run in front of someone else's car.
6. Slow down around fresh roadkill. This is a danger sign that there might be birds hovering around and other wildlife that is either trying to eat the kill or there even could be a baby or family member hanging around.
7. Understand how Australian animals react when frightened. Unfortunately, they have their own style each:

• Kangaroos and wallabies - hop quickly, across a lot of ground and can bolt all of a sudden
• Wombats - they usually keep going in a straight line
• Possums - will often freeze
• Bandicoots - randomly hop about with no certain path
• Ferals - cats tend to run straight, horses can bolt and rear, pigs run straight or alongside etc.
  

Tips

• Use your horn to warn. If you think there might be animals, alert them of your presence by tooting as you pass through. This can be specially helpful for mountainous curves where animals can spring out across the road without warning as you turn corners. Also areas with long or thick vegetation can hide animals.
• Feed yourself and your rubbish bin, not the wildlife. Never throw food scraps out the window and don't leave food by the roadside. This is asking for wildlife to come too close.
• If you do hit wildlife, and it is safe to do so, pull it to the side of the road so that other animals do not become inadvertent victims while feeding of it. If possible, check for joeys etc. in pouches and rescue them if you can. It can be handy to keep a pair of thick gloves in the back of the car for such a task and a blanket to wrap any baby in.
• You can have warning devices fitted to your car; enquire about them at your local RSPCA, environmental organisations etc.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.