THE number of livestock killed on Dartmoor’s roads has risen dramatically in 2018, with the death toll being branded as ‘horrendous’.

The Dartmoor Livestock Protection Society (DLPS) released figures last week of animals killed or injured on moorland roads due to road traffic accidents this year.

With just a few weeks of 2018 left at the time of writing, the figures revealed that a total of 155 animals had been killed in road traffic collisons.

Earlier this month, three ponies were hit on Dartmoor — two of which were killed.

The shocking figure has prompted the society to appeal for drivers to be aware that they are sharing moorland roads with livestock roaming free across the moor.

Livestock protection officer for Dartmoor Karla McKechnie said: ‘We have had an horrendous year for animals involved in road traffic accidents, especially considering that we have had an increased police presence and Speedwatch on Dartmoor.

‘We have mile after mile of unfenced roads on Dartmoor and people need to remember that Dartmoor is very much a working landscape.

‘More people than ever are using the moors for walking and it seems that the animals are becoming more and more unsettled. With the ever-increasing volume of cars, caravans, delivery vehicles, lorries and motorbikes using the roads on Dartmoor it is probably no surprise that the number of livestock fatalities is so high,’ added Karla.

The report from the DLPS stated that more than 110 sheep had been killed and more than 25 ponies and 12 cows had been hit.

Speeding on Dartmoor’s roads is one of the contributing factors to the deaths of livestock in road traffic accidents on the moor — others include people feeding ponies by hand in car parks, drawing them to the roadside; poor weather, which causes driver visibility to be restricted and salt being put down on the roads during the cold weather, which the animals like to lick (see pictured).

‘This year alone we have had 187 road traffic accidents reported to us and that’s only what I have had to attend that have been found at the roadside. It’s not a precise number, it could be a lot more!

‘I would like to remind people that with the winter weather now upon us — with darker evenings and unpredictable moorland weather — it’s not just speeding, you have to drive with moor awareness and take the weather into consideration. Expect the unexpected.’

Anyone who sees an animal injured, in distress or in need of help of any kind is asked to contact Karla on 07873 587561.

l Dartmoor Speedwatch (Times, October 4) said that animal deaths on the roads monitored by the team had decreased from the same recorded period last year, but outside the Speedwatch area, on unmonitored roads, deaths had increased by nearly 30.

The Dartmoor Speedwatch patch covers the three roads leading from Princetown — the Princetown to Dousland road, the Princetown to Tavistock road up to the cattle grid and a section out towards Postbridge. Animal deaths on the roads in the Speedwatch patch went down from 39 in 2017 to 31 this year with the number of injured rising from three to six.