Deer-Vehicle Collisions: Nationwide Status of State Monitoring Activities and Efforts

Abstract

We distributed questionnaires to 50 state natural resource agencies in October 1992 to request estimates of deer killed annually on highways, the source of the estimates, and information about methods used to reduce vehicle collisions with deer; 43 agencies responded. Statistics on deer killed by vehicles were highly variable among agencies and were inconsistent among agencies. Despite a limited quantitative basis, the national deer road-kill for 1991 conservatively totaled at least 500,000 deer. Deer road-kills had increased during 1982-1991 in 26 of 29 states that had suitable trend data. Nearly all states had used some type of signs, modified speed limits, fencing, over- and underpasses, reflective apparatus, habitat alteration, or public awareness programs, but few agencies had evaluated performance of those techniques. Approaches that alter deer behavior and movement patterns appear to be the most fruitful for future application and evaluation.