Two-year monitoring of mammal roadkill on the PA-458 highway in Bragança, Pará

Abstract

The monitoring on PA-458 road was carried out in order to quantify mammal roadkills during two annual cycle and to identify the most susceptible species to these events. Three visits were made along the road from December, 2001 to December, 2003. The mammals killed were identified, sexed, weighed, and measured, as well as georeferenced the point where the animal was found on the road. A total of 44 medium and small-sized mammals was recorded, being distributed in three orders, six families, seven genera and seven species (Procyon cancrivorus, Cerdocyon thous, Eira barbara, Cyclopes didactylus, Tamandua tetradactyla, Euphractus sexcinctus and Didelphis marsupialis). The species which presented the highest number of individual’s roadkill individuals was P. cancrivorus (n= 21). C. didactylus, E. barbara, and E. sexcinctus presented the lowest values (n=1). The variance analysis showed no significant difference for dead individuals during two years of monitoring (ANOVA, F=0.35; gl=1; p>0.05). However, the comparison between dead individuals per kilometer, along the road, showed a significant difference (K-S, DM=0.22; p<0.01), the kilometers 13th and 20th were the points where the highest roadkill numbers were registered. The comparative analysis of killroad between the wet and dry season, for both years, did not present significant difference (c²=0.151; gl=1; p>0.05), but records triple during June and July during those years. Considering that the traffic of vehicles tends to increased on this road during this period, due to an increase of turists in Ajuruteua’s beach, it is reasonable to suggest that mortality of mammals associated to adjacent forests (for example, terra firme and mangal) may be directly related to the intensive traffic of vehicle during summer time.