Throughout 2003, a study was conducted to quantify the mortality of
wildlife on the roads of the island of Menorca. The study was based on the results of
4 sampling campaigns (winter, spring, summer and fall). 20 different sectors were
sampled,covering the 5 main types of the road network on the island, excluding rural
and unpaved road. All sampling sectors cover 102.7 km (40% of the roads on the
island) with anaverage length 5.1 km each. Each sampling campaign supposed a 3
times tracking of each sector, so t so that we had 3 replicates per campaign and per
sector. Replications took place after 5 to 8 days following the standardized methods
for such studies, and depending on weather conditions. After 4 campaigns, we
registered a total amount of 1,895 individuals run over. From field work and
estimates we can state that 14,583 vertebrates die annually in road accidents, most of
which species of birds Passeriformes (over 6,500) and hedgehogs -Atelerix algirus-
(2,160)
