Rare species, victims of speeding vehicles in the Nilgiris, says study

Authors record the number of animals killed by vehicles between Coonoor and Mettupalayam

While deaths of large mammals such as elephants, leopards and tigers due to vehicular traffic are widely documented, a recent study has sought to bring attention to the rare species of amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals in the Nilgiris that are also being lost to speeding traffic. In their paper, ‘Road Kill of Animals by Highway Traffic from Udhagamandalam to Mettupalayam’, published recently in the International Journal of Pure and Applied Zoology, authors R. Deepan, B. Vickram, A. Samson, S. Dilip Clinton and J. Leona Princy, recorded the number of animals killed by vehicles between Coonoor and Mettupalayam, a 55 km stretch, during a one-year period between August 2017 and August 2018. The route, popularly known as the Kotagiri Road, cuts through 32 kilometers of reserve forest, known to host a large variety of native and endemic flora and fauna. Motorists love smooth roads that are relatively free of traffic and have few speed breakers. Many use such roads to exceed speed limits.