Wildlife roadkill rises by a fifth in a year

Roadkill has risen by a fifth with the M5 and M1 the most lethal motorways for animals, statistics from National Highways show.

Some 3,454 animals were killed on the roads in 2021, compared with 2,932 in 2020. The animals most frequently involved in fatal collisions were deer (1,044), foxes (331), badgers (317) and birds such as pigeons and pheasants (167).

Among the more unusual roadkill was a wild boar on the M5 near Bristol, a guinea pig on the M1 in the East Midlands and a polecat on the M25 in Surrey.

There were 288 animal deaths on the M5, while the M1 claimed 238 lives.