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The number of animals killed in traffic collisions fell dramatically during covid-19 lockdowns in the UK, according to data from a citizen science project.

Such accidents are a huge problem in the UK, causing death or injury to animals and drivers. at Cardiff University in the UK and her colleagues have kept a database of roadkill reports in the UK since 2013. The public can submit observations through social media, the or the Project Splatter app.

The covid-19 lockdowns presented a rare natural experiment to see what happens to wildlife collisions when traffic declines drastically.

Analysis of the Road Lab reports revealed that wildlife roadkill dropped about 80 per cent in England, Scotland and Wales during lockdowns from March to May 2020 and December 2020 to March 2021.

However, the team says this number shouldn鈥檛 be taken at face value since there was also a huge drop in people reporting roadkill during lockdowns. Nevertheless, Perkins says it is likely there was still a decline. 鈥淲e can be fairly confident that the reduction in traffic led to a reduction in roadkill,鈥� she says.

All the species looked at in the study, including roe deer, grey squirrels and blackbirds, showed an overall decrease, but the data also revealed some of the factors that may lead to more wildlife deaths on the road, says , who also worked on the study at Cardiff University.

Nocturnal mammals like badgers, hedgehogs and foxes made up a smaller proportion of road deaths during the lockdowns compared with previous years. This is probably because these animals are most active in the evenings, when there was a greater decrease in traffic, according to government statistics, Raymond says.

Birds that get spooked more easily also died less often during the lockdowns, compared with those that sometimes wait until the last minute to flee. Raymond says this may be because drivers were going faster during the lockdowns, so some birds may have miscalculated the time they needed to safely flee.

Overall, the results highlight the danger that traffic poses to species such as badgers, otters and hedgehogs, says Perkins. 鈥淚t does show that certain wildlife species will bounce back quicker than others if we were to all stop driving tomorrow, but, unfortunately, I don鈥檛 think that鈥檚 going to happen in terms of our driving habits,鈥� she says.