Report roadkill anywhere in India with this app

Now you can report killing of wild animals anywhere in India with the new mobile application called as ‘Roadkill’.

The app was launched by the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation and is aimed at reduction in the instances of wild animals dying on roads and railway lines. The app will enable the citizens to document death using photographs and global positioning system (GPS). The date of record along with the species of the dead animal can also be fed into the app. Roadwatch is available for download on Google Play Store or from the website www.roadwatchers.org.

Jose Louies, head of trade control, WTI calls Roadwatch, a user-friendly and reliable system to collect roadkill information with a high degree of accuracy. The entire data available in public domain once compiled, will be sent to the union environment ministry.

The data will also help identify accident-prone highways across India, which be highlighted to state authorities and National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for the construction of underpasses and overpasses, as told by Jose.

A customised version of the app will be provided to any organization or group of students who intend to study an area for maximum roadkill.

A total of 665 roadkill has been recorded in India, with 431 of them being road accidents and 234 train accidents, as per the data revealed by the Delhi-based NGO Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) from forest departments. About 40% [256] of the roadkills were leopards, followed by elephant [100] of which 95 died in train accidents.

Radhika Bhagat, wildlife researcher working on the project, said Roadwatch will help improve planning of linear infrastructure projects minding the presence of wildlife. According to Bhagat, it will help in mapping roadkill hotspots, identifying the worst affected species and assessing the efficacy of existing mitigation measures.