Identifying the hotspots of wildlife–vehicle collision at Touran Biosphere Reserve

Semnan province, one of Iran’s important biodiversity reservoirs for large mammals, especially the Asiatic cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus), has witnessed a noticeable rate of road expansion along with an associated anthropogenic development. A large percentage (7 out of 50–70) of Asiatic cheetahs has been lost due to vehicle collisions in the region over the last decade. In this study, we employed a well-known spatially-explicit algorithm, adopting kernel density estimation method for calculation collision locations in Tourna Biosphere Reserve. In this research two locations determined as hotspots. One of these points matched with the Asiatic cheetah mortalities. And another one due to carcass feeding behavior matched with striped hyenas, golden jackals, Red fox and grey wolf mortalities. Result showed that two records of Asiatic cheetah crossing were reported in medium and large culverts. We proposed mitigation strategies for large mammals in this protected area such as modification of culverts in hotspots in combination with fencing for crossing carnivores and roadside vegetation clearance in critical seasons for the Persian gazelles in Semnan- Mashhad road.