Road network is a death trap for wildlife, a note on the roadkill of Small Indian Civet (Viverricula indica) from the Banaskatha district of Gujarat, India

Authors

  • Shailesh Desai Department of life sciences, BKNM University- 362015, Junagadh, (Gujarat) India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6512899

Keywords:

Road Ecology, Road mortality, Indian civet, Ecological Trap

Abstract

Roads kill hundreds of millions of animals every year and pose a significant threat to many species. Vehicles cause significant mortality among the wildlife as roads bisect the home ranges, territories, migration routes, and movement corridors for wildlife. We have observed two roadkill of Indian civet (Viverricula indica) in the Banaskatha district of Gujarat. Both roadkills were located nearby the human habitation and agricultural areas, whereas scrub patch was scattered and small.  Prosopis juliflora, an alien invasive species of the area, dominated along the roadside which provides suitable habitat for the small Indian civet and its prey for hiding and used as wildlife refugia as well as it offers readily available food thrown out by passengers hence it attracts wildlife and acts as an ecological trap. Despite the widespread distribution of Indian civets, little is known about their ecology, behavior, and threat. Minimizing road-induced mortality among wildlife demands an interdisciplinary approach.

References

Bennett, A.F., 1991. Roads, roadsides and wildlife conservation: a review. In: Saunders, D.A., Hobbs, R.J. (Eds.), Nature Conservation 2: The Role of Corridors. Chipping Norton, Australia, Surrey Beatty, pp. 99– 117.

Bhattacharya, M., Primack, R.B., Gerwein, J., 2003. Are roads and railroads barriers to bumblebee movement in a temperate suburban conservation area. Biological Conservation 109, 37–45.

Brock, R.E., Kelt, D.A., 2004. Influence of roads on the endangered Stephens’ kangaroo rat (Dipodomysstephensi): are dirt and gravel roads different. Biological Conservation 118, 633–640.

Carr, L.W., Fahrig, L., Pope, S.E., 2002. Impacts of landscape transformation by roads. In: Gutzwiller, K.J. (Ed.), Applying Landscape Ecology in Biological Conservation. Springer-Verlag, New York, pp. 225–243.

Charoo AS, Sharma KL, Sathyakumar S and Naqash YR (2010). First record of small Indian civet Viverricula indica in Kashmir Himalaya, India. Small carnivore conservation 43: 42-43.

Coffin AW (2007) From roadkill to road ecology: a review of the ecological effects of roads. J TranspGeogr 15:396–406. https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2006.11.006.

Feeroz, M., M. Hasan, M. Hossain (2012). Biodiversity of Protected Areas of Bangladesh, Vol. II, Dudpukuria-Dhopachari Wildlife Sanctuary. BioTrack, Arannayk Foundation, Dhaka, 224pp.

Forman RTT, Alexander LE (1998) Roads and their major ecological effects. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 29:207–231.

Forman RTT, Sperling D, Bissonette JA, Clevenger AP, Cutshall CD, Dale VH, et al (2003). Road ecology: science and solutions. Washington, DC: Island Press.

Jochimsen, D.M.; Peterson, C.R.; Harmon, L.J (2014). Influence of ecology and landscape on snake road mortality in a sagebrush-steppe ecosystem. Anim. Conserv. 17, 583–592.

Lee, E.; Croft, D.B.; Achiron-Frumkin, T (2015). Roads in the arid lands: Issues, challenges and potential solutions. In Handbook of Road Ecology; van der Ree, R., Smith, D.J., Grilo, C., Eds.; Wiley-Blackwell: Chichester, UK, pp382–390.

Morelli, F.; Beim, M.; Jerzak, L.; Jones, D.; Tryjanowski, P (2014). Can roads, railways and related structures have positive effects on birds? —A review. Trans. Res. Part D, 30, 21–31.

Mudappa, D. 2002. Observations of small carnivores in the Kalakad Mundathurai Tiger Reserve, Western Ghats, India. Small Carnivore Conservation 27: 4–5.

Nowak, R., E. Walker, D. Macdonald, and R. Kays (2005). Walkers’ carnivore of the world. New York: JHU press.

Oxley, D.J., Fenton, M.B., Carmody, G.R., (1974). Effects of roads on populations of small mammals. Journal of Applied Ecology 11, 51–59.

Parendes, L.A., Jones, J.A., (2000). Role of light availability and dispersal in exotic plant invasion along roads and streams in the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest, Oregon. Conservation Biology 14, 64–75.

Peres, C.A., Lake, I.R., (2003). Extent of nontimber resource extraction in tropical forests: accessibility to game vertebrates by hunters in the Amazon Basin. Conservation Biology 17, 521–535

Schwartz ALW, ShillingM Fraser, and Perkins E Sarah (2020). The value of monitoring wildlife roadkill. European journal of wildlife research. 66:18. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-019-1357-4

Van der Ree, R.; Smith, D.J.; Grilo, C (2015). (Eds.) Handbook of Road Ecology; Wiley-Blackwell: Chichester, UK.

Downloads

Published

2022-04-01

How to Cite

Desai, S. . (2022). Road network is a death trap for wildlife, a note on the roadkill of Small Indian Civet (Viverricula indica) from the Banaskatha district of Gujarat, India. Scientific Reports in Life Sciences, 3(1), 54–60. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6512899