Effect of vehicular traffic on wild animals in Anaikatty Hills, Southern Western Ghats, India

An increase in road networks causing a significant impact on tropical biodiversity, especially the ones passing through forest protected zones have a negative impact on wild animals. The mortality rates of wild animals were investigated by using a fortnight sampling method in the selected stretch of state highway 164, of Anaikatty Hills, Tamil Nadu. The sampling was performed in two different seasons namely dry and wet from June 2015 to December 2019. A total of 96 species and 419 individuals of road kill observed. Birds are the most affected taxa (30.21 %), followed by reptiles (28.13 %), butterflies (20.83 %), mammals (11.45%), amphibians (5.21 %) and odonates (4.17 %) were least affected by vehicular traffic. Conservation and management implications are essential to prevent the local extinction of wildlife from Anaikatty reserve forest.