Living in Eurobodalla: Virtual halt to roadkill

Published: 29 September 2023

It's hard to believe something so unobtrusive and deceptively simple as a “virtual fence” could help address the scourge of roadkill on Eurobodalla’s roads.

If you have recently driven in the evening into Long Beach, north of Batemans Bay, you may have noticed some unusual posts spaced every 25 metres along the verge for 300 metres on Blairs Road and just over a kilometre along Cullendulla Drive.

At the top of each post is a small device which, when struck by car headlights at night, emits an audible alarm and blue and yellow flashing strobe LED lights.

As the car passes, each of the receivers on the posts is triggered in sequence, creating a virtual fence that deters animals like kangaroos, wallabies and wombats from crossing the road in search of food and shelter.

The virtual fence trial at Long Beach cost $10,000 to install and was spearheaded by local community environmental group, The Coastwatchers Association, in partnership with Eurobodalla Council and local wildlife rescue group, WIRES, with funding support from the Great Eastern Ranges and the World Wild Fund for Nature Australia.

Cullendulla Drive was selected after being identified through roadkill records as one of the area’s most significant hotspots, with hundreds of kangaroos killed in the past decade. Council workers and WIRES volunteers were often collecting up to five dead animals per week from the area.

It was the first road in NSW where the virtual fencing was trialled. In the eight months after installation of the virtual fence, only five animals were killed. Recently, the fence had some teething issues and lost power, most likely caused by insufficient solar charging in winter because of overshadowing by trees. In just two weeks four animals were killed, highlighting how effective it is when fully operational.

Our natural resource supervisor Courtney Fink-Downes said the trial had been a resounding success – especially because the pilot period included both Christmas and Easter, two of the region’s busiest peaks in terms of visitation and road use.

WIRES volunteer Janelle Renes said the small section of virtual fencing had made a huge difference to the number of killed and injured wildlife. “It’s absolutely amazing,” she said. “It’s a lot less traumatic for the rescuers, carers and Council staff and saves the insurance companies a lot of money from reduced claims. We’d like to see them everywhere.”

One unfortunate limitation of the virtual fence is they don’t work in areas where the speed limit is faster than 80 km/hr because cars pass too quickly for the virtual fence to be effective.

Council’s maintenance coordinator Zach McAnally said collecting roadkill was a responsibility for Council staff who retrieve the carcasses and take them to waste management facilities.

“It’s not a pleasant job,” Zach said. “And before the virtual fence our workers were having to come out here almost daily to collect hit animals.”

The next roadkill hotspot where the virtual fence will be installed is at Dunns Creek Road, between Mogo and Tomakin. In just one week in June three wombats and three wallabies were killed there in five days. Once again, Great Eastern Ranges and World Wide Fund for Nature has contributed $10,000 and Council another $10,000. We're aiming for September installation.

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