Date: October 3, 2017
Source: University of Exeter
Chickens' motives for crossing the road are often questioned
-- but pheasants should probably avoid it altogether, new research suggests.
Researchers from the universities of Exeter and Cardiff compared roadkill
figures from the 1960s and 2010s -- before and after the start of mass release
programmes of pheasants for shooting -- and found pheasants remain
disproportionately likely to be run over compared to other birds. "There
may be a number of reasons why pheasants are so commonly killed on the roads,
including their short flight distances and relatively small brains," said
Dr Joah Madden, of the University of Exeter.
