Understanding the Scope of Wildlife Traffic Collisions

Wildlife-vehicle collisions are one of the most widespread and under-recognized conservation issues of our time. Every day, animals and humans cross paths on the road, and too often, the result is fatal. This problem is not limited to one species, one place, or one group of animals—it affects everything from deer and moose to turtles, frogs, songbirds, and even endangered species whose populations cannot easily recover from these losses.

Globally, the numbers are staggering. In Europe alone, researchers estimate that around 194 million birds and 29 million mammals are killed by vehicles each year. In Brazil, studies suggest that more than 1.3 million medium- and large-sized mammals are lost annually.

When all animals are considered—including small mammals, reptiles, and amphibians—the global total reaches into the billions of deaths every year. Many of these lives are never recorded, since scavengers remove carcasses quickly and smaller animals often go unnoticed, but the trend is clear: roads are claiming vast numbers of wild lives.

The situation in the United States is just as sobering. Each year, there are an estimated 1 to 2 million crashes involving large animals such as deer and elk. Insurance companies receive about 1.7 million claims annually from these incidents, but that number only reflects collisions that cause vehicle damage. Smaller accidents or unreported strikes are far more common. Birds are especially vulnerable, with between 89 and 340 million killed each year by cars in the U.S. alone. Altogether, the toll on vertebrate wildlife in this country is in the hundreds of millions every year.

These collisions don’t just harm wildlife—they take a human toll as well. In the U.S., vehicle crashes with animals result in roughly 200 human deaths each year and tens of thousands of injuries. The financial costs are also enormous, with damages, medical expenses, and lost work adding up to billions of dollars annually.

The variation in these numbers comes from the way studies are conducted. Some surveys focus only on large mammals, while others include birds, reptiles, and amphibians. Many deaths are missed because animals are scavenged quickly or roads are not surveyed frequently enough. Even with these uncertainties, researchers agree that the scale of loss is massive, consistent, and deeply troubling.

Wildlife & Road Safety: Numbers at a Glance

🦌 2 million+ wildlife-vehicle collisions occur in the U.S. every year.

🚗 1 in 17 car crashes involve wildlife.

💰 $8 billion in property damage, medical costs, and lost work annually.

❤️ 200+ human lives are lost in the U.S. each year due to these accidents.

🌍 Collisions are a leading cause of wildlife deaths on roadways.

🌉 Wildlife crossings reduce collisions by up to 90%, saving lives and protecting ecosystems.

The consequences ripple beyond the individuals killed. Losing key species from road collisions can shift population balances in ecosystems, weaken biodiversity, and put rare animals at even greater risk of extinction. At the same time, humans face safety risks, financial costs, and emotional distress when collisions occur.

When we look at the scope of this issue, one truth becomes clear: wildlife traffic collisions are not small, isolated events. They are a large-scale problem with far-reaching impacts on both nature and people. Understanding the numbers is the first step toward solutions—and toward safer roads for all.

For the wild.

Footnotes & Citations

1. “A global dataset of roadkill monitoring data” — systematic literature review and global compilation. PMC article: identifies undercounting issues and provides data on global roadkill impacts.

2. Grilo et al., “Roadkill risk and population vulnerability in European birds and mammals” — Europe estimates (~194 million birds, ~29 million mammals/year). ESA (Ecology and Evolution journal).

3. MDPI study: review of roadkill of medium and large mammals in Brazil, mean estimate ~1.3 million/year.

4. “Loss et al. (2014): Bird mortality from vehicle collisions in the U.S.” — estimate ~89-340 million birds/year.

5. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Wildlife-Vehicle Collision Reduction Study: Report to Congress — estimates of vertebrate mortality, discussion of methodologies and bias.

6. State Farm data: ~1.7 million animal collision insurance claims in recent 12-month period in the U.S.

7. Pew / Smart Growth America: U.S. human deaths, injuries, and economic cost of wildlife vehicle collisions; large-animal crashes; impact estimates.