DECREASING ROAD KILL OF Pentalagus furnessi WITH A WILDLIFE DETECTION SYSTEM THAT WARNS DRIVERS TO REDUCE VEHICLE SPEED

摘要

Vehicular collisions with Amami rabbits (Pentalagus furnessi ), an endemic species on Amami-Oshima Island, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan, is a serious issue. One measure that can decrease the number of road kills is to reduce vehicle speed. We evaluated the effectiveness of a new Wildlife Detection System (WDS), which consists of a sign and light, compared to a passive warning sign only. To determine the effect of the combined sign and light on vehicle speed reduction, we recorded vehicle speeds in three experiments: control, sign only, and WDS. Vehicle speeds were significantly reduced in the sign only and WDS experiments. However, the lighting of the WDS facilitated the visibility of wildlife from a distance. Therefore, we believe that WDS is an effective method to prevent vehicular collisions with Amami rabbits.