The article “Wrong place at the wrong time: patterns explaining ungulate-vehicle collisions in Portugal” by CESAM/DBIO researchers Rita Tinoco Torres and João Carvalho, PhD student Mariana Rossa (CESAM/DBIO), and Pedro Leite in collaboration with CIBIO/University of Porto, is featured on the cover of the scientific journal Mammalian Biology.
This recognition highlights the importance and necessity of assessing the consequences of the increasing populations of wild ungulates across Europe. One of the negative impacts of this rise is the dramatic increase in road accidents involving these species, which has led to serious conservation, economic, public, and animal health issues.
In this study, researcher Rita Tinoco Torres and her co-authors characterize the temporal distribution of ungulate-vehicle collisions in Portugal. They demonstrate that these road accidents show strong temporal and spatial patterns. The information provided in this study emphasizes the need to optimize current prevention measures and focus them on the periods of highest collision risk—particularly during twilight hours.
This work represents the first description of the temporal patterns of road accidents involving ungulates in Portugal, underlining the contribution of CESAM researchers to the advancement of scientific knowledge.
The full article is available here.
