Consequences and Solutions to Wildlife-Vehicle Collisions and Electrocutions: the case of the Alturas Wildlife Sanctuary

Infrastructures affect wildlife survival in a variety of different ways: reduction of habitat connectivity leading to isolation, inbreeding and loss of genetic diversity; fatal attempts to cross roads due to traffic collisions for terrestrial animals and electrocutions for arboreal and flying animals. This is particularly evident in countries undergoing rapid development, such as Costa Rica, where there has been a surge in infrastructure construction in the last decade. Luckily, many localities nowadays have rescue centres where animals can be brought to by the general public to receive treatment and rehabilitation; the Alturas Wildlife Sanctuary, located in the Puntarenas Province of Costa Rica, is an example of this. As first part of the study, an analysis of the registries of the aforementioned sanctuary was performed to discover the main reasons for admission. Having learnt that two of these are vehicle collisions and electrocutions, the attention was focused on them and an examination of the lesions they cause and the possible mitigation solutions which exist was carried out. Included in this last point was also an analysis of the footage from the camera traps placed on the aerial bridges which the Alturas Wildlife Sanctuary installed above the main road in their area to understand their effectiveness. The conclusion which was drawn is that there are many options available to try and reduce the effect of roads and other infrastructures on wildlife and that the work of rescue centres, together with government bodies and other NGOs, are vital components for these to work.