As part of the LIFE with Bison project, Rewilding Romania is carrying out a risk analysis of collisions between bison and vehicles on the main transport routes crossing the reintroduction area. The activity covers the European road E70, county roads DJ608 and DJ608A, the local road DC24, as well as the nearby railway line – infrastructure that crosses or lies close to the range occupied by the bison population.

So far, a monitoring protocol has been developed, and barriers and transport infrastructure have been mapped to identify potential wildlife crossing points and areas with a higher risk of collisions. At the same time, monitoring of the bison population has shown that the species’ range is expanding into new areas, including near recently modernized county roads, which led to a revision of the monitoring methodology and an extension of the analysis beyond the E70 corridor.

An analysis of potential bison movement corridors is currently underway, which will inform the placement of monitoring cameras. Because of the heavy traffic on the E70, monitoring will be carried out mainly using automatic cameras, a method that allows data to be collected safely. The results will help identify the measures needed to reduce the risk of collisions and to ensure better coexistence between transport infrastructure and wildlife.