The collision highlights the importance of planned green traffic solutions in the construction of the R2 expressway

On 1 December 2022, Administration of the Cerová vrchovina Protected Landscape Area (PLA) of the State Nature Conservancy of the Slovak Republic (SNC SR) received a report from an expert forest manager, who was informed by the Police Department in Banská Bystrica about a brown bear killed by a vehicle. The collision of the protected animal with a vehicle took place in the night hours on road no. I/16, in the cadastral territory of the municipality of Mýtna, in the Lučenec district, namely on the stretch between the municipalities of Mýtna and Píla. The killed adult male bear was handed over to the local hunting association.

Road no. I/16 between the municipalities of Mýtna, Píla and Podkriváň crosses an important migration corridor of large carnivores, which connects the core area in the Poľana area and the Low Tatras National Park with the mountain ranges of southern Slovakia and northern Hungary (such as the Javorie, Ostrôžky, Cerová vrchovina, Mátra or Bükk). Cerová vrchovina PLA zoologist Csaba Balázs states that “This case of a bear killed by a vehicle, as well as other cases of collisions between cars and large carnivores in the affected stretch, point to the significance of the area in the migration of large carnivores from south to north.”

The SNC SR has been mapping migration corridors in the territory for a long time, among other means also through the international projects TRANSGREEN and ConnectGREEN, as well as through the currently implemented SaveGREEN migration corridor mapping project. Moreover, intensive construction works on the R2 expressway are currently underway in the area. “The R2 expressway must be fenced on both sides for traffic safety reasons. Yet fenced linear constructions also represent significant barriers to the migration of large terrestrial mammals,” points out Csaba Balázs.

During the environmental impact assessment of the R2 expressway construction, the SNC SR promoted solutions that will mitigate the impact of the linear construction on the migration of animals in the future. A flyover and the construction of an ecoduct near Tomášovce are planned in the relevant area. “In lowlands, the construction of a sufficiently dense network of green bridges with adequate parameters is essential when it comes to the construction of motorways and expressways. These bridges should be a functional part of all 21^st century road line constructions,” concludes Csaba Balázs. 

The press release was prepared by the State Nature Conservancy of the Slovak Republic.