Diagnosis on the mammal road-kills in the Upper Paraguay River Basin

Abstract

Wildlife road-kill is responsible for the direct loss of millions of individuals on Brazilian roads annually. It is urgent to access, understand, and mitigate these impacts. We present a diagnosis on the mammal road-kills in the Upper Paraguay River Basin (BAP), intending to access the current state of knowledge, identify gaps, and propose conservation and mitigation measures. Data were collected through a systematic literature review and further characterized according to the type of study, location in the BAP, species richness and conservation status, and road-kill rates. We identified 15 studies that implemented systematic road-kill monitoring, mostly on Mato Grosso do Sul roads. 93% of the monitoring was carried out by car, with an average duration of 14 months. We compiled 5,241 roadkilled individuals distributed in ten orders and 47 species, with the order Carnivora being the most representative. Twelve species presented the status of threatened with extinction at a national level, with the giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) having the highest average of road-kill rates. Our review was essential to identify vulnerable species to road-kill effects, guide further research, and help in policy strategies and road impact mitigation.