TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Brazilian biologist Alex Bager and his team at the Brazilian Centre for the Study of Road Ecology has estimated that over 475 million animals die in Brazil as victims of roadkill. In his effort to raise awareness about the issue, Bager created an app to register roadkill cases called the Urubu.
"The numbers are really scary and we need people to know about them," Bager said as quoted by Environmental News Network.
Bager worked with developers to create the app for smartphones and by November 2014, hundreds of volunteers have participated in events to highlight the impact of roadkill on biodiversity.
"This is one of the best examples of citizen science in Brazil I am aware of," he say.
"When somebody sends a photo of a roadkill the exact site is registered with GPS. We have over 6,000 registered users in the whole of the country. Anybody can join."
The app is part of a wider Urubu System. Each photo is analyzed by five researchers from a team of 500, and only then is integrated into a map that visualizes key problem areas throughout the country.
ENN