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Abstract:Wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVCs) cause approximately 570 human fatalities in Canada per 20-year cohort, with Alberta accounting for 22% of these and incurring an estimated CAD $300,000 per day in direct and indirect costs. Wildlife fencing combined with crossing structures reduces collisions by ~86% on well-instrumented sites but remains economically infeasible across the majority of rural road kilometres, leaving a substantial collision residual. We present a combined sensor network integrating alternating-side radar nodes (10-m spacing baseline), three-axis magnetometers, dynamic message signs, and LoRa-mediated awareness propagation between adjacent radars. System performance is evaluated through a discrete-time Monte Carlo simulation on a 1 km test corridor, incorporating a six-state animal behavioural Markov model with vehicle-threat-dependent decision branching, Intelligent Driver Model vehicle dynamics, and a three-mode contrast that isolates the contributions of sensing, driver alerting, and network coordination. Across 60 independent trials, the integrated system reduces the collision rate per road entry by 47.4% relative to an unmitigated control (Welch's t = 2.82, p < 0.01), and simultaneously increases safe road-crossing throughput by 77% by lowering the perceived vehicle threat that otherwise triggers pre-crossing retreats. Sensitivity sweeps establish a statistically significant equivalent-performance band across 5-20 m alternating radar spacing and across small-to-medium animal classes (fox- through deer-class), with operational robustness against tenfold degradation of baseline sensor sensitivity.

Submission history

From: Lars Thomsen [view email]
[v1] Fri, 22 May 2026 00:33:41 UTC (1,776 KB)