November sees increase auto-animal collisions

Auto accidents involving wildlife collisions peak in the month of November all across Canada due to mating season.
Annually, accidents that result from large animals including deer, elk and moose crossing highways and crashing with cars can kill and injure people as well as cause tens of millions of dollars worth of accident claims and leave tens of thousands of wild animals dead.
In Alberta the numbers of vehicle-wildlife collisions have more than doubled since 1991. There were 12,609 such accidents last year worth more than $25 million in claims and health-care costs. This increase may be a result of urban sprawl into natural wildlife habitats according to the Alberta Motor Association.
Statistics for other provinces are also increasing.
Annually, the number of vehicle accidents involving animals in Ontario has almost doubled in the past decade to 13,729 – one every 38 minutes.
In Manitoba, wildlife – mainly deer – were involved in 11,000 such collisions at a cost of $20.4 million.
“We’ve paid out nearly $50-million in wildlife claims over the past three years,” Brian Smiley, a spokesman for Manitoba Public Insurance, says. “We know of at least four fatalities over the past year directly attributed to deer wandering onto the road ways.”
Ontario and British Columbia are dealing with the problem by installing fencing along major highways and clearing brush from roads to improve visibility.
In Saskatchewan, the province has teamed up with the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation to promote a program this fall called Go Slow and Save a Little Doe. In 2004, Saskatchewan Government Insurance reported almost 11,000 accident claims stemming from deer collisions that cost the system $26.4 million.