Mammal Roadkills in Lithuanian Urban Areas: A 15-Year Study

SIMPLE SUMMARY: We examined traffic accidents involving wildlife and domestic animals in Lithuanian urban areas from 2007 to 2022. We analyzed the proportions of wild and domestic animals in roadkill, annual trends, the dominant species involved, and monthly changes during the COVID-19 periods of mobility restrictions. During the study period, the number of roadkills increased exponentially, with roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) being the most numerous species. The proportion of domestic animals, 12.2% of the total roadkill in urban areas, significantly exceeded that on non-urban main, national, and regional roads in the country, these being 3.8%, 3.6%, and 4.3%, respectively. During the 2020 and 2021 COVID-19 restrictions, there was a significant increase in the number of accidents involving animals in cities, which again normalized after the lockdowns. Thus, mobility restrictions had only a temporary effect. The increase in animal-related accidents, even when there were fewer people on the roads, suggests that new ways of protecting animals in cities might be required, at least through improving driver awareness on the issue. ABSTRACT: We investigated roadkills in urban areas in Lithuania from 2007 to 2022, including two periods with COVID-19 restrictions on people’s movement. We analyzed the proportions of wild and domestic animals in roadkill, annual trends, the predominant species involved, and monthly changes during the restrictions. Urban roads were characterized by a low species diversity of roadkilled mammals, with roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) dominating. Total numbers increased exponentially during the study period. The proportion of domestic animals, 12.2%, significantly exceeded that on non-urban roads in the country. The proportion of domestic animals decreased from over 40% in 2007–2009 to 3.7–5.4% in 2020–2022, while the proportion of wild mammals increased from 36.1–39.6% to 89.9–90.6%, respectively. During the periods of COVID-19 restrictions, the number of roadkills in urban areas was significantly higher than expected based on long-term trends. Compared to 2019, the number of roadkilled roe deer in 2020–2021 almost doubled from 700 to 1281–1325 individuals. These anthropause effects were, however, temporary. The imbalance between the roadkill number and transport intensity might require new mitigation strategies to sustain mammal populations in urban areas, at least through improving driver awareness on the issue.