GEORGE TOWN, Oct 6 — Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) has urged the highway authorities to create an awareness on wildlife safety in driving courses to prevent animal deaths on the road.
Its president, Meenakshi Raman said the hike in the number of wildlife which were killed on highways in the country was a very difficult issue to tackle.
‘’Injured wild animals often suffer and die after being hit by vehicles as had taken place in Terengganu and Johor involving tapirs,’’ she said in a statement today.
She said no detailed investigations on the deaths of wild animals on the road or safety measures were being taken to prevent the incidents while the motorists involved went scot free since no compensation had to be paid regardless of whether the animals were a threatened species.
‘’Who is at fault for these road deaths? Most drivers do not think of slow-moving animals such as mammals, amphibians and reptiles (which could be on the road) when they are driving,’’ she said.
She said the expansion in the highway networks through wildlife habitats and the increase in the number of vehicles further escalated the extinctions of species which was one of the main causes for the decreasing wildlife apart from the threat of habitat encroachment.
‘’The authorities have built eco bridges or underground and overhead bridges to enable wildlife to move from one part of a fragmented forest to another to reduce road deaths.
‘’But the issue is how far is the effectiveness of such facilities for the purpose of safe crossings by wildlife,’’ she said.
She said an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) must be conducted, and taking into account the views of the wildlife authorities, before implementing road projects which could impact on the original fauna.
‘’With the growing population, requiring more roads and communications, a proactive and strategic planning to reduce road deaths should be the main focus in any future plannings of highway projects involving wildlife habitats.
‘’Of course, the best strategy is to reduce the need to build highways in wildlife habitats,’’ she added.
— Bernama
