Editing Tasmanian devil (section)

===Road mortality===
[[File:Tasmanian Devil roadsign.jpg|right|thumb|A road sign telling drivers that there may be devils nearby|alt=A square-shaped metal tilted at 45 degrees on a metal post. The sign is painted yellow with a picture of a black devil in profile. It is at the side of a straight road cutting through wooded forest and two vehicles can be seen.]]
Motor vehicles are a threat to localised populations of non-abundant Tasmanian mammals,<ref name="Hobday-2010"/><ref name="Jones, Menna E.-2000"/> and a 2010 study showed that devils were particularly vulnerable. A study of nine species, mostly marsupials of a similar size, showed that devils were more difficult for drivers to detect and avoid. At high beam, devils had the lowest detection distance, 40% closer than the median. This requires a 20% reduction in speed for a motorist to avoid the devil. For low beam, the devils had the second shortest detection distance, 16% below the median. For avoidance of roadkill to be feasible, motorists would have to drive at around half the current speed limit in rural areas.<ref name="Hobday-2010"/> A study in the 1990s on a localised population of devils in a national park in Tasmania recorded a halving of the population after a hitherto gravel access road was upgraded, surfaced with bitumen and widened. At the same time, there was a large increase in deaths caused by vehicles along the new road; there had been none in the preceding six months.<ref name="Jones, Menna E.-2000"/>

The vast majority of deaths occurred in the sealed portion of the road, believed to be due to an increase in speeds.<ref name="Jones, Menna E.-2000"/> It was also conjectured that the animals were harder to see against the dark bitumen instead of the light gravel. The devil and quoll are especially vulnerable as they often try to retrieve roadkill for food and travel along the road. To alleviate the problem, traffic slowing measures, man-made pathways that offer alternative routes for devils, education campaigns, and the installation of light reflectors to indicate oncoming vehicles have been implemented. They are credited with decreases in roadkill.<ref name="Jones, Menna E.-2000"/> Devils have often been victims of roadkill when they are retrieving other roadkill. Work by scientist Menna Jones and a group of conservation volunteers to remove dead animals from the road resulted in a significant reduction in devil traffic deaths.<ref name="Owen and Pemberton-14"/> It was estimated that 3,392 devils, or 3.8–5.7% of the population, were being killed annually by vehicles in 2001–2004.<ref name=vul/> In 2009, the Save the Tasmanian Devil group launched the "Roadkill Project", which allowed members of the public to report sightings of devils which had been killed on the road.<ref>{{cite web |title=Roadkill Project |publisher=Save the Tasmanian Devil |url=http://www.tassiedevil.com.au/tasdevil.nsf/Roadkill-Project/1A27B0F89FF95EF8CA2576D20077F70B |access-date=10 December 2015 |archive-date=18 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180318093646/http://www.tassiedevil.com.au/tasdevil.nsf/Roadkill-Project/1A27B0F89FF95EF8CA2576D20077F70B |url-status=dead }}</ref> On 25 September 2015, 20 immunised devils were microchipped and released in Narawntapu National Park. By 5 October four had been hit by cars, prompting Samantha Fox, leader of Save the Tasmanian Devil, to describe roadkill as being the biggest threat to the Tasmanian devil after DFTD.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tassiedevil.com.au/tasdevil.nsf/news/367C04BF953C460BCA257ED50002D816 |title=Devil deaths spark renewed plea for drivers to slow down |date=5 October 2015 |publisher=Save the Tasmanian Devil |access-date=10 December 2015 |archive-date=30 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630054955/http://www.tassiedevil.com.au/tasdevil.nsf/news/367C04BF953C460BCA257ED50002D816 |url-status=dead }}</ref> A series of solar-powered alarms have been trialled that make noises and flash lights when cars are approaching, warning the animals. The trial ran for 18 months and the trial area had two-thirds less deaths than the control.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2016/05/11/drivers-pose-significant-threat-endangered-tasmanian-devil|title=Drivers pose 'significant' threat to endangered Tasmanian devil|work=News|date=14 May 2016 |access-date=14 May 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-09/alarm-system-to-reduce-tasmanian-devil-roadkill-shows-promise/7013558|title='Virtual fence' shows promise in reducing road toll of Tasmanian devils|date=9 December 2015|work=ABC News|access-date=14 May 2016}}</ref>