Radio-collared squirrel glider (Petaurus norfolcensis) struck by vehicle and transported 500 km along freeway
Kylie Soanes A B D , Melissa Carmody Lobo C and Rodney van der Ree A B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Australian Research Centre for Urban Ecology, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, Melbourne, Vic. 3010, Australia.
B School of Biosciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Vic. 3052, Australia.
C Wildlife Conservation Society, Santiago, Chile.
D Corresponding author. Email: ksoanes@unimelb.edu.au
Australian Mammalogy 38(1) 127-129 https://doi.org/10.1071/AM15013
Submitted: 12 May 2015 Accepted: 25 September 2015 Published: 23 October 2015
Abstract
Roadkill (the mortality of animals through wildlife–vehicle collisions) is one of the main impacts of roads on wildlife. Studies quantifying the location and rate of roadkill to identify ‘hot spots’ are often used to guide the location of mitigation efforts, such as fencing or wildlife crossing structures. However, sometimes quantifying rates of roadkill can be challenging, particularly for species that are small and difficult to detect. In our study, a squirrel glider that was trapped and radio-collared in north-east Victoria was found as roadkill more than 500 km away, suggesting that a vehicle struck the animal and carried the carcass away from the site of impact. Our observation is the first evidence that this occurs for squirrel gliders.
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