Animal carers advocate to decrease wildlife-vehicle collisions in the ACT

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Every year, more than 7,000 insurance claims are made after collisions with kangaroos, but a trial of virtual fencing in the Eurobodalla recorded a 90 per cent decrease in roadkill incidents.

Transcript

00:00Lindy Butcher is up all night providing round-the-clock care to two baby wombats.

00:07So this one's 800 grams now, so she was 300 grams when we got her, so that's very tiny.

00:13She knows the cost of collisions between vehicles and wildlife.

00:17These two little wombats, so I've got Madge and the other little one is Claire.

00:21At the moment they're vulnerable babies that would be dead without somebody rescuing them at first.

00:25They would have been fox food or bird of prey food within a matter of hours.

00:29Yet Lindy knows most collisions are unavoidable accidents.

00:32The animals leaped out in front of their car, scared the tripe out of them, damaged their car and then the poor animals died or is injured.

00:39And so it's a problem.

00:41In 2023, Yoruba Dalla Shire Council tried to solve the problem, running a trial of virtual fencing near Batemans Bay.

00:48Poles 25 metres apart detect oncoming traffic and emit a noise and a light to warn wildlife.

00:54The system works best with vehicles travelling under 80 kilometres per hour.

00:58The proof is in the data. We've seen a decrease of around 90% of incidents on the roads that have them.

01:04The council has since committed funding for more fences.

01:07It's about $10,000 a kilometre, but I think it's a great return.

01:10Every year more than 7,000 insurance claims are made after collisions with kangaroos.

01:16A report by Huddle Insurance estimates that it cost Australians more than $28 million in repairs.

01:22After seeing the success on the coast, Aisha Bottrell started a petition for a trial in Canberra.

01:27Every single week there is a new dead or injured kangaroo on this road.

01:32It's devastating to see so many injured kangaroos and not seeing really anything be done about it.

01:38She believes the fences are a worthwhile investment.

01:41To me that's relatively cheap and I think the benefits will outweigh the cost.

01:45We actually need to put something in place that will at least deter the animals from crossing the road

01:50if we can't deter the drivers from slowing down at the high risk times.

01:54It's an idea Lindy Butcher is quick to support.

01:57It would be great to see something like that here.

01:59She says while the fence may not stop birds being hit by cars, saving any animal is a good outcome.

02:04As wildlife carers we would love to not have a job. We would love to not be doing what we do.

02:09A task with no end in sight in a city surrounded by bushland.

02:1310.

02:16Lost On Air

02:19Milton

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