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Map: Where Animals Become Roadkill in California
On some Los Angeles streets, you can use a smartphone app to report graffiti, potholes and other problems. In the Santa Monica Mountains you can help the National Park Service document invasive plants that need to be eradicated with your smartphone. Now another project from the University of California, Davis, is getting some attention, thanks to the New York Times.
The University of California, Davis, has citizen scientist document roadkill throughout the state. There's no smartphone app yet -- it's being worked on -- but there's been thousands of carion photographed and mapped but a crew of dedicated volunteers.
The purpose of the California Roadkill Observation System to find why and where animals are hit by vehicles, and perhaps, take action in road design or adjustments in the future.
Curbed LA combed the observations, and among the squirrels and coyotes found a landshark. Well, it ended up being a stuffed animal.
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You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
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