JACKSON, Wyo. — The Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation (JHWF) has released its Teton County Wildlife-Vehicle Collision (WVC) Database Summary Report for May 2021 to April 2022.
According to the report, collisions are still frequent, but the number of reported collisions might be hitting a plateau, or starting to dip slightly.
“Since 1990, when roadkill data collection efforts began in Teton County, the number of reported WVCs has steadily increased; however, the last three-year average (2019-2021) WVC rate has decreased,” the report says.
The document reports 210 total wildlife-vehicle collisions between May 2021 and April 2022 in Teton County.
Statistics from years past are also included in the report. Between 2013 and 2022, according to JHWF’s data, 1,559 mule deer were involved in WVCs, the most afflicted species by far. In that same time period, collisions involved: 389 elk, 168 moose, 42 skunk, 23 white-tailed deer, 13 black bears and three grizzly bears, among many others.
JHWF Communications Manager Kyle Kissock said that the apparent plateau in collision numbers might not be entirely positive.
“The roads are so busy that wildlife are simply not choosing to cross, which can have larger implications when it comes to habitat connectivity,” Kissock told Buckrail. “If they’re not crossing roads, they’re not going from one habitat to another. Maybe they’re not migrating as easily across the landscape.”
Kissock suggested that the next several years of data collection will be crucial to understanding real trends. In the meantime, he recommended that drivers familiarize themselves with which roads tend to be hot spots for collisions. The report provides maps of these locations, which tend to vary by species.
The report also notes “vast underreporting” of wildlife-vehicle collisions, suggesting that the actual number of collisions during the studied time period could be double or quadruple what was reported, or anywhere between 400 and 800 incidents.
This is the first report to include data from Teton County, Idaho. See the full report here.
