Yahoo Autos Counting Crows: We Sit Down with the Lead Scientist for the California Roadkill Observation System
From the August 2018 issue
C/D: Why did you create the California Roadkill Observation System?
FS: In 2009, I wanted a system for recording roadkills that I would observe, and I assumed that other people would use it as well. It was meant to engage people. The first image in the system was a raccoon. That’s really what inspired it, that raccoon. We developed CROS mostly to be an ecological tool, wanting to understand what kinds of animals were being hit. When? Where? Could we collect enough data to think about solutions?
C/D: Who do you have taking pictures of roadkill and uploading them to the database?
FS: We’ve had 1500 people participate at some point, and we’re up to 58,000 observations. The spectrum really ranges from high-school students to retirees. We’ve had quite a few teachers discovering the system and getting their kids to enter roadkill, high-school classes participating from all over the state. Most of our observations come from natural-history buffs or biologists or someone like that. People who are most enthusiastic about wildlife are the ones who contribute.
C/D: What have you learned?
FS: We’ve learned some things about people, we’ve learned some things about nature, and we’ve learned some things about transportation. People are very careful. Our species-identification accuracy rate is 97 percent. We check locations against the metadata in their iPhone pictures and it’s at plus or minus 10 yards. We’ve got observations from all over the state, for over 400 different species of reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals. It’s comprehensive. For quite a few species, we’ve had enough observations over time that we’re actually keeping track of wildlife populations. We’ve identified hot spots where roadkill is concentrated year after year, which suggests that you could build a crossing structure to reduce that impact and increase the safety for drivers.
C/D: What’s next?
FS: We’re undergoing a transition to also include information collected by law enforcement [on] crashes involving an animal. Mostly deer, but also bear, mountain lion, coyote, and some others. People care about wildlife—it’s hard to find someone who would say they don’t. They also care about their own safety. When you bring those two things together, it’s not just an ecology issue. Last year, we estimated the annual cost to society from all the collisions with wildlife throughout the state [in 2016], and it was $276 million. It’s changed the scale of the discussion; we have legislators and environmental organizations that are interested. And by mapping out the impact, we’re saying these are the thousand points of light that the government and large conservation organizations should be acting on.
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