App to catch roadkill stats

TASMANIANS are being urged to download a mobile phone app that will inform a national roadkill mitigation program.

The Roadkill Reporter app encourages people to record when and where they see roadkill.

It is estimated that every year more than 500,000 marsupials, birds and reptiles are killed on Tasmania’s roads.

TASMANIANS are being urged to use their mobile phones to be part of a national roadkill survey which will identify wildlife-death hot spots.

It is estimated that every year more than 500,000 marsupials, birds and reptiles are killed on Tasmania’s roads.

And while this state is part way through a two-year trial of the Roadkill TAS app there is no national roadkill database to help steer mitigation efforts.

Now the new Roadkill Reporter app, developed by former Tasmanian Australian of the Year and wildlife scientist Bruce Englefield, has been launched in Hobart by Federal Minister for the Environment Sussan Ley.

During October, Australians will be asked to use the app to record roadkill events.

The data collected will enable local authorities to identify roadkill hot spots and concentrate their mitigation efforts in those areas.

The data will also be used to evaluate the causes of roadkill and wildlife numbers and movement.

“This is practical environmentalism,” Ms Ley said.

“It is about road safety and citizen science coming together. We urge Tasmanians who see roadkill to park safely, take a photo and send it in to help us understand what is happening and how roadkill rates can be reduced.”

Mr Englefield, who is a PhD student and researcher at the University of Sydney, said the app can be downloaded from Google Play to the iTunes App Store for free.

It is designed to take a photograph of roadkill that is GPS, time and date stamped and then uploaded to a website.

“It is intended that citizen scientists be engaged to record Australian road kill during October. This will enable a reliable estimate of yearly Australian roadkill to be calculated and hot spots identified.

“This means that local authorities will be able to source this information and maximise financial resources by concentrating their efforts to mitigate roadkill at these hot spots.”