The Reliability and Effectiveness of an Electromagnetic Animal Detection and Driver Warning System

This report contains data on the reliability and effectiveness of an animal detection system project along US Hwy 160 between Durango and Bayfield, Colorado. The system that was first installed was a Perimitrax® system from Senstar Corporation. In the fall of 2010 this system was replaced by an OmniTrax® system, manufactured by the same company, Senstar Corporation. The Perimitrax® system was also installed at a controlled access facility near Lewistown, Montana. Here more detailed investigations were conducted into the reliability of the system using horses, llamas and sheep as a model for wild ungulates. When it was implemented, if was found that the number of reported large mammal carcasses and crashes with wild animals was highly variable and the number of years that data were available for after system installation in the fall of 2008 was low. Therefore it is difficult to draw conclusions about the potential effectiveness of the system on the number and severity of wildlife-vehicle collisions at this time.