Abstract

Vehicle collisions with large wildlife provide a serious risk of severe personal injuries. In some countries, there is a common belief that hunting increases this risk because it leads to more active animals and increases roads crossings. We analyzed movements of moose (Alces alces) and frequency of moose road crossings during fall to test if moose altered their behavior during hunting periods compared to other times. We analyzed global positioning system (GPS) data from 172 free-ranging adult moose (140 females, 32 males) between the end of August and the middle of October 2004-2013, in 7 different areas along Sweden's latitudinal gradient of 57 degrees N-67 degrees N. Female moose either decreased or did not change their movement rates as fall proceeded, and they did not cross roads more in any weeks of the hunting season. Male moose became more active between mid-September and the beginning of October, which corresponds to the time before the hunting period in southern Sweden and the temporary hunting closure in northern Sweden. There was no overall change in moose movements in relation to hunting activity during fall regardless of region or sex. We found that number of road crossings correlated positively with the rutting period in male moose. Thus, the riskier periods for traffic during fall during the hunting period, based on moose movement, coincided with the rutting activity. We suggest that mitigation actions to reduce moose-vehicle collisions should make drivers more aware of changes in movement behavior in moose during the rutting season, particularly in southern Sweden. (C) 2018 The Wildlife Society.

Keywords

animal movement rates; deer-vehicle collisions; hunting; moose; road crossings; rutting; Sweden; traffic safety

Published in

Journal of Wildlife Management
2018, Volume: 82, number: 5, pages: 918-928
Publisher: WILEY

SLU Authors

• Neumann Sivertsson, Wiebke

  • Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Ericsson, Göran

  • Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG9 Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation


UKÄ Subject classification

Fish and Wildlife Management


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jwmg.21448

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/95799