Road Infrastructure and Primate Conservation: Introducing the Global Primate Roadkill Database

SIMPLE SUMMARY: When wildlife cross roads, they risk fatality due to collisions with automobiles and motorbikes. As road infrastructure networks rapidly expand globally, especially in the tropics and subtropics, primates are increasingly at risk from these collisions. We created the Global Primate Roadkill Database (GPRD) as a comprehensive standardized repository to document incidents of primates killed by vehicular collisions. For each primate roadkill event, we recorded the species, location, and the year and month the incident was observed. As of February 2023, we collated over 2800 roadkill incidents, involving at least 107 primate species, from 41 countries. The lack of data from a large number of primate range countries did not necessarily indicate that primate roadkill events do not occur there, but more likely reflects underreporting. Given the value of these data for addressing both local and global research questions, we encourage conservationists and citizen scientists to contribute to the GPRD so that, together, we can better understand the impact road infrastructure has on primates. ABSTRACT: As road infrastructure networks rapidly expand globally, especially in the tropics, previously continuous habitats are being fragmented, resulting in more frequent wildlife–vehicle collisions (WVC). Primates are widespread throughout many sub-/tropical countries, and as their habitats are fragmented, they are increasingly at risk of WVC. We created the Global Primate Roadkill Database (GPRD), the largest available standardized database of primate roadkill incidents. We obtained data from published papers, un-published and citizen science databases, anecdotal reports, news reports, and social media posts. Here, we describe the collection methods for the GPRD and present the most up-to-date version of the database in full. For each primate roadkill incident, we recorded the species killed, the exact location, and the year and month the roadkill was observed. At the time of publication, the GPRD includes 2862 individual primate roadkill records from 41 countries. As primates range in more than twice as many countries, the absence of data from these countries is not necessarily indicative of a lack of primate vehicular collisions. Given the value of these data for addressing both local and global research questions, we encourage conservationists and citizen scientists to contribute to the GPRD so that, together, we can better understand the impact road infrastructure has on primates and evaluate measures which may help mitigate risk-prone areas or species.