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Long Term Monitoring of Roadkill Counts: 652 highway

Amir Arnon & Liat Hadar

Road collisions involving animals and vehicles (wildlife-vehicle-collisions; WVC) affect wildlife individuals, populations, and ecosystems. At the same time, they cause economic damage and sometimes even human fatalities.

With the rapid urbanization and expansion of road infrastructure, structured and continuous monitoring of wildlife roadkill, including the species, location, and date, serves as an important source of information regarding trends in animal populations, their spatial and temporal movement patterns, and areas of high-risk for accident (“hot spots”).

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In addition to the zoological knowledge to support land management, such information may help to mitigate the problem by various means that affect both the animals and the drivers/the road.

However, most of the data on WVC’s collected by different organizations include only “presence” observations of visible roadkill events, without documenting “absence” data (information on dates at which no accident occurred, and on the sampling effort), which makes it more difficult to analyze the data and draw sound conclusions.

In this report, we summarize a survey conducted along part of Road 652, east of Ramat Hanadiv. The data, collected between 2013-2020, are part of a daily survey (part of Ramat Hanadiv’s long-term monitoring program) that also includes absence data.

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The data show that the majority of roadkills in this road segment were jackals (101 individuals throughout the period) and indicate a decrease and a low density of the jackal population in 2013-2017, followed by an increase from 2017 to a significantly higher density by the end of the period. Mongooses and house cats (mostly feral) showed declining trends in parallel with the increase in jackal roadkills, while foxes demonstrated a gradual decline throughout the whole period. In badgers, a small number of roadkills were documented (7 throughout the period), probably due to the low population density and the use of road underpasses. Wild boars and porcupines showed mixed and inconsistent trends. For the gazelle population, roadkill is not a significant cause of death, possibly due to the avoidance of crossing the road with the increase in traffic volume.

In addition, the various species show different patterns throughout the year, depending on the seasonality of foraging, dispersal, and reproduction. Thus, most jackal roadkills occur in the fall, a season in which the young born in the spring disperse.

The spatial pattern of the roadkills also provided interesting information, when differences between species were also observed with respect to roadkill hot spots along different road segments.

Jackals and cats, for example, showed more scattered hot spots, mostly close to areas with increased human impact (supermarket & restaurants in the southern road section; trash cans and cat feeding points further north), while most wild boar and porcupine roadkills occurred along one road segment in the south, which face natural areas and agricultural land.

Along with their scientific and applied contribution, roadkill data are also a way of raising the awareness of decision-makers and the public to the subject, to promote actions by the authorities to reduce the scope of the problem.

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Refresh yourself at the Kiosk with a drink or snack. The kiosk is open daily.

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Ramat Hanadiv Gardens, May 2018, Zichron Yaacov, Israel.

Establishment of the Partnership for Regional Sustainability

In 2015, Ramat Hanadiv established the Partnership for Regional Sustainability, aiming to combine forces for the quality of life in the region. Five neighbouring councils – Binyamina Givat-Ada Local Council, Zikhron Ya’akov, Hof Hacarmel Regional Council, Jisr A-Zarqa and Alona Regional Council – joined Ramat Hanadiv in order to work together on the challenges of preserving the unique texture of the region surrounding Hanadiv Valley and Taninim River. The point of reference of the partnership lies in two central understandings: the first, that quality of life and residents’ wellbeing are closely linked to the state of the environment in which we live, and the second, that sustainability issues are cross-regional and do not recognise municipal borders. Therefore, the partners committed to raising regional awareness and broadening their perspective from the local scale to the entire region.

The partners chose to focus on three core issues: striving for coexistence of nature, agriculture and humans, promoting sustainable regional transport, and developing sustainable regional economy.

Since its inception, the Partnership has gained a worthy place among both the region’s residents and decision makers. In January 2017, the heads of the five member councils of the Partnership for Regional Sustainability, the CEO of Ramat Hanadiv and 120 members of the Partnership’s leading forum, signed the Partnership Agreement, which defines the vision, aims and directions of action for the region in the coming years. By doing so, the signatories committed themselves to leading the region towards a future of quality of life and consideration for the values of environment and sustainability.

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The main entrance to the Memorial Gardens – located next to the Visitors Pavilion. In the entrance plaza are temporary exhibitions on a range of subjects promoted by Ramat Hanadiv

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Sustainable gardening is defined as gardening that considers the needs of the current generation without harming the needs of future generations. It includes garden design that considers the existing elements on site – the landscape, soil, environment and vegetation suitable for the region

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The picnic area is located near the secondary parking lot. You are welcome to spend time there before or after your tour of the Gardens.

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Mata'im Restaurant
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The Picnic Site

“Green” Picnic Area

We offer you a shaded picnic area next to the secondary carpark of the gardens. You’re welcome to spend time there before or after your visit.

This area is located in a pine grove, giving you the opportunity to rest and have a picnic. For the convenience of visitors to the grove, there are picnic tables, water fountains, a dish-washing station and toilets.

We put a lot of effort into making your visit pleasant and ensuring you can have a quiet, relaxing time – without music, fire or smoke. Do not light bonfires or barbecues in this area.

You are welcome to bring a cool box with food, and enjoy the clean air and a pleasant, quiet stay in nature.

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We ask you to eat your picnic using reusable utensils that are beneficial to humans and the environment.

Are you interested in a nice set of reusable utensils for the entire family? You’re welcome to buy one in our InfoShop in the Visitors Pavilion.

The area is accessible to people with disabilities:

  • An accessible carpark adjacent to the picnic area
  • A standard access path with a slope below 8% leads from the accessible carpark to the picnic area
  • Accessible tables in the shade are located on a paved surface and standard manoeuvring area
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We maintain this area for your convenience and enjoyment!

Please be considerate of the other visitors and follow these rules:

  • The area is designed for visitors; do not hold functions, catered events or meetings
  • Please bring food that is ready to eat and do not light a barbecue or fire
  • This area is quiet and tranquil; do not play music or use megaphones, amplifiers etc.
  • The picnic area is part of the Nature Park, which is home to a diversity of plants and animals. Please look after the surrounding nature.

Thank you for your cooperation!

We wish you a safe, quiet, enjoyable stay.

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In 2015, Ramat Hanadiv established the Partnership for Regional Sustainability, aiming to combine forces for the quality of life in the region.

For further information >>

Dining Here

Dining-The Picnic Site

The picnic area is located near the secondary parking lot. You are welcome to spend time there before or after your tour of the Gardens.

For further information >>