• Journal of Ecology and Environment
• /
• 제38권2호
• /
• pp.163-173
• /
• 2015

The occurrence of wild boars (Sus scrofa Linnaeus) and reports of wildlife-vehicle conflicts (i.e., road-kill) involving them have increased in natural forest regions of Korea. In the past few decades, many wildlife passages have been constructed to reduce vehicle collisions involving wildlife species. However, few studies have assessed the habitat suitability of target wildlife species when locating the construction sites of wildlife passages. Target species rarely use wildlife passages if built in an inappropriate location. Therefore, a quantitative habitat model is required to find suitable sites for wildlife passages that can connect the fragmented forest patches of wildlife habitats in Korea. In this study, the wild boar was selected as the target species, and six environmental variables (percentage of Quercus forest, slope aspect, distance to roads, water accessibility, forest stand age and density) were measured. The habitat model for wild boars was developed with a Delphi survey, and habitat suitability maps were delineated for the provinces of Gangwon-do and Jeollanam-do. In this study, 298 and 64 boars were observed in Gangwon-do and Jeollanam-do, respectively. Observations of wild boars derived from the second nationwide natural environmental survey were used to evaluate the habitat model. Habitat suitability maps that superimposed existing road networks suggested that wild boar habitats were severely fragmented in both provinces, particularly in Gangwon-do. To connect the fragmented habitats and prevent wildlife-vehicle collisions, this study proposes 11 and 5 wildlife passage sites in Gangwon-do and Jeollanam-do, respectively.

• 한국동물위생학회지
• /
• 제33권4호
• /
• pp.401-409
• /
• 2010

From 2006 through 2007, the highest need for the most urgent attention in Gangwon-do Wild Animal Rescue Center was wildlifevehicle collisions (WVC). The Korean Ministry of Environment reported 6543 WVC's in 2005 and 5565 cases of WVC's in 2006. In this study, data from the Gangwon-do Wild Animal Rescue Center was utilized to analyze WVC incidents and the movement of wildlife near roadways in Korea. From 2006 through the first half of 2008, the portable GPS device recorded accident location of the injured wildlife. Attempts were made to track and monitor the movements of four raccoon dogs and five Korean water deers near the roads. One raccoon dog and one Korean water deer were successfully tracked and monitored. Their locations were transmitted to cell phones. The amount of WVC's was highest amongst the roads near the forests of Gangwon-do. The devices installed on the nearby roads did not protect the wildlife from WVC's. Results using the CDMA-type GPS collar showed that wildlife often crossed the road even with devices installed to prevent this from crossing roads. This research analyzed the behaviors of different wildlife animals and WVC's. New preventative measures need to be established to avoid roadkill. It is suggested that new streets be built or for an appropriate speed limit be implemented.

• 한국환경복원기술학회지
• /
• 제26권5호
• /
• pp.19-32
• /
• 2023

The fragmentation of habitats resulting from human activities leads to the isolation of wildlife and it also causes wildlife-vehicle collisions (i.e. Road-kill). In that sense, it is important to predict potential habitats of specific wildlife that causes wildlife-vehicle collisions by considering geographic, environmental and transportation variables. Road-kill, especially by large mammals, threatens human safety as well as financial losses. Therefore, we conducted this study on roe deer (Capreolus pygargus tianschanicus), a large mammal that causes frequently Road-kill in Jeju Island. So, to predict potential wildlife habitats by considering geographic, environmental, and transportation variables for a specific species this study was conducted to identify high-priority restoration sites with both characteristics of potential habitats and road-kill hotspot. we identified high-priority restoration sites that is likely to be potential habitats, and also identified the known location of a Road-kill records. For this purpose, first, we defined the environmental variables and collect the occurrence records of roe deer. After that, the potential habitat map was generated by using Random Forest model. Second, to analyze roadkill hotspots, a kernel density estimation was used to generate a hotspot map. Third, to define high-priority restoration sites, each map was normalized and overlaid. As a result, three northern regions roads and two southern regions roads of Jeju Island were defined as high-priority restoration sites. Regarding Random Forest modeling, in the case of environmental variables, The importace was found to be a lot in the order of distance from the Oreum, elevation, distance from forest edge(outside) and distance from waterbody. The AUC(Area under the curve) value, which means discrimination capacity, was found to be 0.973 and support the statistical accuracy of prediction result. As a result of predicting the habitat of C. pygargus, it was found to be mainly distributed in forests, agricultural lands, and grasslands, indicating that it supported the results of previous studies.

• 한국임상수의학회지
• /
• 제31권4호
• /
• pp.282-287
• /
• 2014

The negative impacts of roads on wildlife mortality have been well documented, and one of the most significant impact is wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVCs) in most countries throughout the world. While road impacts on wildlife are a truly global concern with a large socio-economic cost, few researches in Korea have been quantified road-kill occurrence on highways or identified extensively seasonal and geographic patterns of this phenomenon. Therefore, we analyzed highway mortality of wild mammals in Korea using database from five years of nation-wide data on WVCs, and estimated road-kill density by standardizing on per km and per $10^3$ vehicle basis. During 2008 through 2012, a total of 10,940 wildlifes were reported killed on highways, with an average of 2,188 cases per year. There were 2,376 road-kills in 2012, and this equates to 0.01 road-kills per km per week or one road-kill every 88.5 km per week. For time of day, road-kills occurred more frequently in the early morning (05:00-08:00, 38.3%), and day of week did not have a significant influence in any individual year. The road-kill was highest in the spring (March- May, 33.0%) and least in the winter (December-February, 16.1%), and the most frequently killed native species were of Korean water deer (79.7%), raccoon dog (12.7%), Korean hare (3.1%), and leopard cat (1.2%). The overall standardized kill-rate (number/10 km/1,000 vehicles/month) in 2012 was 0.057 with highest on Dangjinyeongdeok highway (0.476), followed by Yeongdong (0.274), Sooncheonwanju (0.233), Iksanpohang (0.187), and Joongang (0.150). This study highlights that the frequency of WVCs are prevalent throughout the highways in Korea. Further work is needed to determine whether such a level of mortality is sustainable from an ecological point of view.

• 한국환경생태학회지
• /
• 제24권6호
• /
• pp.763-771
• /
• 2010

서식지 파편화로 발생하는 야생동물과 차량과의 충돌사고(이하 '로드킬')를 방지하기 위해 2000년대 후반부터 야생동물이동통로가 활발하게 설치되었으나 로드킬 발생은 여전히 감소하지 않고 있어 야생동물이동통로의 실효성 분석이 필요하며, 설치 이후 단편화된 유지관리로 인해 야생동물이동통로에 대한 평가 및 기능개선을 위한 관리기법이 부족한 실정이다. 이에 본 연구에서는 야생동물이동통로의 유지관리를 위한 기본방향 및 관리기법을 제시하기 위해 현재 설치 운영되고 있는 367개 이동통로에 적용할 수 있는 평가항목과 항목별 중요도를 AHP 기법에 의해 파악하였다. 분석결과, 평가항목은 3단계로 구분할 수 있었으며 총 10개 평가항목이 도출되었다. 야생동물이동통로의 유지관리를 위한 우선순위 도출을 목표(Level 1)로 시설인자, 환경인자, 동물인자, 관리인자로 구성된 Level 2의 중요도 분석에서는 환경인자가 가장 중요한 것으로 나타났다. Level 3에서는 구조 적합성(시설인자), 주변지형과의 조화(환경인자), 야생동물 이용빈도(동물인자), 모니터링 기기 운영여부(관리인자)가 중요 평가항목으로 조사되었다. 즉 야생동물이동통로의 유지관리를 위해서는 주변지형과의 조화와 야생동물 이용빈도를 우선적으로 고려해야 할 것이다. 이같은 연구 결과는 우리나라에 설치되어 있는 야생동물이동통로의 유지관리 방향 및 각 이동통로의 정비전략을 모색하기 위한 평가자료로 활용될 수 있다.