Global roadkill data: a dataset on terrestrial vertebrate mortality caused by collision with vehicles
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2025
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Nature Research
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Grilo, C., Neves, T., Bates, J. et al. Global Roadkill Data: a dataset on terrestrial vertebrate mortality caused by collision with vehicles. Sci Data 12, 505 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-04207-x
Abstract
Roadkill is widely recognized as one of the primary negative effects of roads on many wildlife species and also has socioeconomic impacts when they result in accidents. A comprehensive dataset of roadkill locations is essential to evaluate the factors contributing to roadkill risk and to enhance our comprehension of its impact on wildlife populations and socioeconomic dimensions. We undertook a compilation of roadkill records, encompassing both published and unpublished data gathered from road surveys or opportunistic sources. GLOBAL ROADKILL DATA includes 208,570 roadkill records of terrestrial vertebrates from 54 countries across six continents, encompassing data collected between 1971 and 2024. This dataset serves to minimise the collection of redundant data and acts as a valuable resource for local and macro scale analysis regarding rates of roadkill, road- and landscape-related features associated with risk of roadkill, vulnerability of species to road traffic, and populations at risk of local extinction. The objective of this dataset is to promote scientific progress in infrastructure ecology and terrestrial vertebrate conservation while limiting the socio-economic costs.
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Acknowledgements:
This dataset was developed as part of the RISKY project—Wildlife Mortality from Energy and Transport Infrastructure—funded by OSCARS (Open Science Clusters’ Action for Research and Society) under the European Commission’s Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme (Grant Agreement No. 101129751). Additionally, the development of this dataset was supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (Grant Agreement No. 857251). Further support was provided by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal) (Grant CG - 2022.00579.CEECIND) and a grant awarded to TN from National Funds (UIDP/50027/2020) within the BIOPOLIS Association. Roadkill recording was supported by Asian Development Bank, Asociación Colombia Endémica, Andalusian Ministry of Environment, Andalusian Regional Government), British Herpetological Society, CEI de Carbone (DIR Sud-Ouest), Center of Advanced Systems Understanding (CASUS) - Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation and the conservation units of Santarém, Pará and PIBIC/ICMBio, Consejería Medio Ambiente (Junta de Andalucía), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq - PCI/DA MPEG/MCTI 2019–2023), CAPES (Fundação Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior), Charles Darwin Foundation, Departament de Medi Ambient, Territori i Sostenibilitat of the Generalitat de Catalunya (FBG301492), Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU), Doñana Natural Park and Doñana Natural Space, Doñana Biological Station EBD-CSIC - “Evaluation of the effects of motorized traffic on species and communities of interest in Doñana Protected Area” (2008 × 0963), Department of Primary Industries FeralScan, DSI-NRF South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI; SARC-87311) and the University of Venda (SMNS/17/Zoo/01), Emirates Airlines, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), Environment Research and Technology Development Fund (JPMEERF20184004) of the Environmental Restoration and Conservation Agency of Japan, Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute, FAPESC (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa e Inovação do Estado de Santa Catarina), FAPEG (Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Goiás), FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (Portugal) - CEECIND/03265/2017, CEECIND/02213/2017, SFRH/BD/66393/2009, SFRH/BPD/115228/2016, DL57/2016/CP1440/CT0010, NORTE-01-0246-FEDER-000063, Fondation Segré (YGGR and ENS), French Ministry of Ecology, Friends of Laguna Atascosa, FUNDECT-PPP 2014, German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, (Modernitätsfonds/mFUND” - nr. 100319244), Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and by the Saxon Ministry for Science, Culture and Tourism (SMWK), RTCF-USFWS, Grant Service of Forests of the Czech Republic, s.e.; project no. TA02031259 of the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic and from the research arm of the Czech Academy of Sciences (RVO 68081766), Greengrants Fund, Guyra Paraguay, Hainan Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (#320MS057) and National Key R&D Program of China (Grant No. 2021YFB2600104), Houston Zoo, Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Idaho Transportation Department, Boise State University Raptor Research Center, Instituto de Ecología A.C. (INECOL) and CONACYT, IDEA WILD (KARUSRI-0921/0522), Institute of Parasitology, BC CAS (RVO 60077344), Jane Goodall Institute–Switzerland, Keith Du Cross, Global, Laurentian University (Canada), LHS - National Research Foundation of South Africa (Grant Nr: 107099, 115040), Mekelle University(Ethiopia), Mexican Council of Science and Technology (COMECYT-Mexico), Mineração Rio do Norte S/A, Ministère des transports, de la mobilité durable et de l’électrification des transports du Québec (MTMDET), Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia (Grant No. 451-03-9/2021-14/200007), N3 Toll Concession (N3TC), Nashville Zoo (DRY), National Science Centre, Norwegian Environment Agency, NSERC Discovery Grant, National Geographic’s Young Explorer Grant (NG Asia 48–16), Panthera’s Small Cat Action Fund (SCAF)-2020, National Science Centre, Poland (2020/39/B/NZ9/01829), Petchra Pra Jom Klao Doctoral Scholarship from King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT), Programa de Pós-graduação em Biodiversidade for the grants #02/2020 and #02/2021, Program of long-term conceptual development of research organizations (Ministry of Transport, Czechia), Project Consulting S.A., Project MontObEO - Montesinho biodiversity observatory: an Earth Observation tool for biodiversity conservation (MTS/BRB/0091/2020)), PID2022-141763NA-I00, funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033), Protocol between BRISA Auto-Estradas de Portugal S.A and Centro de Biologia Ambiental (BRISA-CBA 2007–2010 – ‘Eficácia de medidas de minimização dos efeitos negativos das auto-estradas’), Project LIFE LINES – LIFE14-NAT-PT001081, funded by the European Commission, OUC’s Small Research Grants, Ontario Parks, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) HIIFP Grant, Research Council of Lithuania under the Programme “University Excellence Initiatives” of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports of the Republic of Lithuania (Measure No. 12-001-01-01-01 “Improving the Research and Study Environment”) (Project No.: S-A-UEI-23-11), Romanian Academy (RO1567-IBB09/2024), Romanian Ministry of Research, Innovation, and Digitization, CNCS – UEFISCDI, PNCDI III (grant numbers PN-III-P1-1.1-PD-2021-0591 and PN-III-P1-1.1-TE-2021-1452), Rufford Small Grant number 26640-1, RZSS (ALJD), the Rufford Foundation (23951-1, 39927-2), Rufford Small Grant number 18847-1, São Paulo Research Foundation-FAPESP: 2020/12588-0, Saxon Ministry for Science, Culture and Tourism (SMWK)/Saxon State Parliament, Scientific Initiation Scholarship Program (PIC) from Centro Universitário de Brasília, Sistema Nacional de Investigación (SNI – Mexico), Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN) through the Juan de la Cierva Incorporación Program (IJC2019-039662-I), Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute (TAWIRI), Talent Attraction fellowship from the Autonomous Community of Madrid (CAM), Spain (2022-T1_AMB-24025), The Lake Simcoe Conservation Foundation and its donors, The McLean Foundation, The Dufferin Simcoe Land Stewardship Network, and the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority and its municipal/regional partners, Third Xinjiang Scientific Expedition Program (YW Grant No. 2022xjkk0804), the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research Program (STEP) (Grant no.2021QZKK0203), Tigray-Afar Eco-region project (VPRS/25/2012, CNCS/MU-UMB/02/2011, and VPRCS/RB/20/2012), University of Venda, National Research Foundation of South Africa: 107099, 115040. University of Venda: SMNS/17/Zoo/01, USDA Forest Service, USFWS (surveys in the Florida Keys - Grants F20AC11116 & F21A0C406-00), UiTM Negeri Sembilan Kuala Pilah Campus, Vinci Autooutes “réseau ASF)”, UFG (Universidade Federal de Goiás), UNEMAT (Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso), University of Venda - Department of Lands, Resources and the Environment at Magnetawan First Nation, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Western Ghats Nature Foundation, Whitley Fund for Nature, Wildland Networks, and Wolgan Valley One & Only. This work was partially funded by the Center of Advanced Systems Understanding (CASUS), which is financed by Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and by the Saxon Ministry for Science, Culture and Tourism (SMWK) with tax funds on the basis of the budget approved by the Saxon State Parliament. We thankful the field assistance in recording roadkill and identifying species to: Abeje Kassie, A. Langer, Abhishek Srivastava, Abuzar Yaran, Adam Otomar, Adrián Lamosa, Alberto Muñoz Costa, Aldo Crisci, Alejandro Arteaga, Alessio Becucci, Alex Richter-Boix, Alexandre Flesch, Allyson Armendariz, Ana Cristina Sacramento, André L. Reglin, Andrea Senese, Aníbal Rodríguez, Animekh Hazarika, Ankur Nahok, Anselm de Silva, Antigoni Kaliontzopoulou, Antonio Croce, Arjun Shandilya and Dr. Anil Khaple, Arnaldo Iudici, Arup Kumar Das (Aaranyak), Atteneri Rojas, Author’s classmates of Universiti Teknologi MARA, Barry Chalmers, Beatriz Martín, Bertrand Charry, Bibhuti P Lahkar (Aaranyak), Birgit Fessl, Bryan Zurita and Anne Dixon, Buller Vet Service, Brisa Autoestradas de Portugal SA, Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland (BUND), C. Trowbridge, C. Watt, Camillo Campolongo, Carling Dewar, Carlos H. Salvador, Carolina Eberhardt, Carolina Diegues, Cassiano do Reis Oliveira, César Ayres, Charlie Teasedale, Chennai, Cheryl Frederick, Chief Conservator of Forests & Field Director, Chippy Wood, citizen science platform iNaturalist, citizen scientists contributing data to CyROS (www.cyroadkills.org), citizen scientists who contributed sightings to WomSAT (WomSAT.org.au), Clara Silva, Claudio D’Esposito, collaborators of the Proyecto de Registro de Fauna atropellada en carreteras Mexicana, colleagues from Secretaria do Meio Ambiente e Infraestrutura do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, Cristina Venezia, Colin Lawton (NUIG), colleagues from fauna and parcs (Québec), Daniele Scinti Roger, Dante Francomano, David Anchundia, David Dopereiro, Davide De Rosa, Deputy Director of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, Diana Cardona, Diego Gurvich, and Eimear O’Keefe (Infomar), D. Jones, Dylan Robinson, Ede Municipality, Edison C. M. da Rosa, Eduardo C. do Amaral, Elnaz Najafi-Majd, ENM, Elsimar S. da Silva, Enrico Tammariello, Enza Notorio, Esteban Sanchez, Evan Hovington, Everson Fleck, Ezequiel Vivas, Fabiana Pinto Bertuol, Faegh Mandami, Felipe Camurugi, Felipe Siverio, forest guardians, Founder, Francesca Buoninconti, Forest brigade members from the Perobas Biological Reserve (Júlio Cezar dos Santos, Sidnei do Carmo Bequer, Wilians Batista de Oliveira, Vitor Emanuel Silva Machado, Maykon Junior Moraes Dangui, Clodoaldo Araújo dos Reis and João Henrique Secco), Francisco Álvares, Francisco Jiménez Cazalla, Francisco Pérez, Frederico Corga, Gabriel and Grazi, Gabrielle Blanchette, Gabriele Del Gaizo, Gaspare Adinolfi, Gerson Miguel Casagrande Trentim, Getachew Mulualem, Giancarlo Rassati, Gilson Rivas, Giovanni Capobianco, Gisele Steinmetz Magro, Gregor Pachmann, Griselda Millot, Guarda Nacional Republicana (Portugal), Guilherme Souza Oliveira, Gustavo Jiménez-Uzcátegui, G. Hughes, Hannah Bottomley, Hugo B. Mozerle, Haileselasie, Hugo Giraudo, Ignazio Avella, Ilaria Cammarata, Inês Freitas, Ing. Oliver (General Directorate of Cadastre), Ing. Gustavo Hilal (Cordoba Provincial Department of Roads), Ion Garin, Isidro Rodríguez, Ismael Espasandín, Ivo R. Ghizoni-Jr., J. Dixon, Jack O’Connor, Jan M. Kaczmarek, Jan Riegert, Javier Álvarez, Jaynina Deku, Jeju Wildlife Rescue Center, J.E. Baxter-Gilbert, Jeju-si City hall, Jess Reedy, Jessica Papa, Jiří Sedoník, João F. Martins, Jody Mays, Joey O’Connor, Jon Buldain, John Morrison, José Carlos Brito, Josephine Cheng, Juan Conrado Rosacher, Juleysi Reyes, Jyotish Ranjan Deka (Aaranyak), Kathy Gilbert, Kenzie Azmi, Landesverband Rheinland-Pfalz e.V., Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority staff and volunteers, Lars Haugaard, Lasoi Ketere, Linda Laack, Lisa Bidinosti, Lizandro Gusen de Oliveira, L. Monck-Whipp, Luís O. M. Giasson, Luis Sánchez, Luiz G. Marins de Sá, K. Tabobondung, C. Neufeld, the Magnetawan First Nation community, Maine Big Night volunteers, Manuel Meijide, Manuel Ramos, Manuela de Lucas, Marc Frank Quintana, Marcela Orozco, Marcello Giannotti, Marco Marotti, Marcos A. G. Azevedo, María José Doiny, Marilena Izzo, Martino Cabana, Mary-Helen Paspaliaris, Megan Chan, Megan Deslauriers, Melanie Down, Members of NPO Conservation & Animal Welfare Trust, Michał Figura, Michele Innangi, Michele Soprano, Miguel A. Sanza, Miguel Fernando Zapata, Miss Jidapha Thongbanthum, Miss Wipavee Hoonheang, Mitch Sternberg, Moisés Asensi, Monia Nakamura, Mr J. Murphy, Mr. Chanchai Ploysri, Mr. Chattakan Ngamchaluay, Mr. K.V.R.K. Thirunaranan, Mr. Manigandan Mr. Warut Chaleekarn, Ms K. Papastergiou, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry Stewardship Rangers, N. Noble, N3TC staff, Nahla Lucchini, Natalia Kolenda, Norwegian Nature Inspectorate staff, Nicola Campomorto, Óscar Zuazo, Ottavio Janni, Pablo Michelutti, Pablo Sierra, Panduka Silva, Parque Estadual do Tainhas team, Paula Gonzalez Ciccia, Pedro Carrillo Seijas, Pedro Teófilo, Philipp Schiefenhövel of Will und Liselott Masgeik-Stiftung für Natur- und Landschaftsschutz, Pietro Balestrieri, Piotr P. Kazimirski, Professor Estela Bonfiglio, Pronatura Peninsula de Yucatan Team, Prue Grant, Qasem Salimi, Rainer Karsch, R. Bomma, R. Dillon, R. Maleau, Rebecca Blaesing, Renato A. M. Monteiro, Ricardo Soria, Ricardo Zaldívar, Richard Nicole, Ritesh Joshi, Robin Reid, Rochelle Methot, Rodrigo Castro Silva, Roque Santos, Rosenei Olicheski, Ryan Collins, Salvatore Ferraro, Samantha Klein, Sandra Anastasio, Sandro P. Faria, Santiago Reyes, Sarah Courtemanche, Sarayo Guaña, Seogwipo-si City hall, Shashi Mishra, Silvia Romano, Simon Tapper, Stanislav Grill, Stefano Erbaggio, Stephen Macfarlane, Sue Findlay, Sujan Henkanaththegedara, Syxto Ferraira, Tamil Nadu Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Wildlife Warden of Tamil Nadu state, Tanya Barr, Tania Paradiso, Tiran Abeywardene, Thasun Amarasinghe, the Danish Nature Agency, Tito Barros, Thomas deMaar, Tobias Kunz, U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologists and affiliates, Valeria Balestrieri, Valérie Hayot-Sasson, Victor Esqueda, Víctor León, Victor Merlino, Vitor Zimmermann, Volunteer hunters of the Danish Schweiss-Register, Volunteers of database at https://cyroadkills.org, Wanessa, William, Wendy Collinson-Jonker, and Xosé Pardavila. We acknowledge the following persons, projects, institutions and organizations that were associated to roadkill data collections: Agencia Andaluza de Cooperación Internacional (Junta de Andalucía), Center for Wildlife Studies, company Eixo-SP and company Arteris Intervias, Comunidad de Madrid (2018-T1/AMB-10374 and 2022-5 A/AMB-24242 to RB), Consejería Medio Ambiente (Junta de Andalucia), Consórcio Concremat-Hollus, Consórcio DT PR-445, Consórcio PROSUL-MAC III, COVINSE, CRAS and Environmental Police, Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge, DACBiol-UJAT, Department of Wildlife Conservation, Sri Lanka; Department of Forest Conservation, Sri Lanka, Department of National Museum Sri Lanka, Departamento de Estradas de Rodagem do Paraná (DER/PR), Departamento Nacional de Infraestrutura de Transportes - Superintendência Regional do Amazonas (DNIT/AM), Departamento Nacional de Infraestutura de transportes (DNIT), Director of the Serengeti Wildlife Research Centre (SWRC), the Chief Park warden for the Serengeti National Park, Direction interdépartementale des routes de l’Est de la France (DIR EST), Direction Régionale de l’Environnement de l’Aménagement et du Logement de Franche-Comté (DREAL FC), ESSA in the scope of the project “Smart Infrastructure Planning and Design to Protect Natural Habitats and Biodiversity: Ecological Assessment of the NHP Road Upgrading”, Marianne Cheveau, Endangered Wildlife Trust, Éric Alain, Faculty of Graduate Studies of the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Federal University of Lavras – UFLA, Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul and the Post-Graduate Program in Ecology and Conservation, Forest Ecology Laboratory, Forêt Montmorency, Friends of Presqu’ile Provincial Park, Fundação de Pesquisas Florestais do Paraná (FUPEF), Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Acre (FAPAC), Galapagos Conservancy, General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways (Poland), Gladys Porter Zoo, Géraldine Conruyt-Rogeon Service du Patrimoine Naturel du Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Provincia di Cuneo, Città Metropolitana di Torino, GIT Impacto de Infraestructuras Humanas a la Vida Silvestre (SMBC), Héloïse Bastien, Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis (IBAMA), Instituto Tecnológico de Transportes e Infraestrutura (ITTI), Jean-Emmanuel Arsenault, Jean-François Dumont, Julie Boucher, Laboratory of Studies and Projects in Forest Management – LEMAF, Mathieu Brunet, Michel Michaud, Ministère des transports, Museum of Natural Sciences ‘Anibal Montes’, Parc National de la Jacques Cartier, Park rangers at Nam Nao National Park, Patrouille secours, Presqu’ile Provincial Park, Projectree Engenharia Ltda, Public Ministry of Campo Grande, Raleigh Road Mortality Project in North Carolina, Project “Distribución Conservación y Ecología del Turón en la Península Ibérica”, the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, Project UG/FCI 046-2021: Mortalidad de Vertebrados silvestres por colisiones vehiculares en las principales carreteras entre las provincias de Guayas y Santa Elena (Ecuador), Pierre Blanchette, Quebec Center for Biodiversity Science (QCBS), Ministère des Forêts (Canada), Ministère des transports, de la mobilité durable et de l’électrification des transports du Québec (MTMDET), Réserve Faunique des Laurentides, Science Forest Department, Sistema Nacional de Investigación, Société des établissements de plein air du Québec (Sépaq), SOLURB, S û reté du Québec, Sylvain Boucher, The Department of National Parks, Universidade do Extremo Sul Catarinense (UNESC), Universidade Federal do Acre (UFAC), Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR), University of Malaga (Spain), University of Venda, volunteers of NGO Hora ést, Wildlife Management at the National University of Cordoba, Yves Bédard, Yves Leblanc, Zetta UFLA Agency for Innovation in Geotechnologies and Intelligent Systems in Agribusiness - Zetta UFLA, This paper was written and prepared in part by U.S. Government employees on official time, and therefore it is in the public domain and not subject to copyright. The findings and conclusions in this publication are those of the authors and should not be construed to represent an official USDA, Forest Service, or United States Government determination or policy.