Roadkill is not just on the roads

Posted on : 2008-03-19 15:14 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
New film documents a study on these unfortunate animals, and calls road construction methods into question

We’ve all seen it as we drive by. Roadkill, defined as animals that have been hit by vehicles, is everywhere. But these days, it is not just on the road. It has become the subject of both a research study and film documenting the study.

Choi Tae-yeong, a researcher at Seoul National University’s Environment Planning Institute, began research on the subject in 2004 and has since surveyed roads across the country, including the 88 Expressway, which connects the eastern city of Daegu with the western city of Gwangju. Initially, Choi expected that there would be places along the road in which animals would be more likely to be killed. However after having marked 5,769 spots along the nation’s roads over the past two and half years, he has found that animals have been killed all over the roads. Roadkill, it seems, is everywhere.

A film documenting Choi’s study, entitled “One Day on the Road” and directed by Hwang Yun, will be screened exclusively at art houses in Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Daejeon and Gwangju on March 27. This is the first documentary on the ecosystem to be shown in theaters in South Korea.

The movie starts with a scene in which a Korean terrapin, a kind of turtle, is wandering on the Seomjin Riverside Road as cars whip by. This particular road is one on which many toads can be found and, in mating season, becomes something akin to a toad cemetery. As Choi’s research team confirms that approximately 70 toads were hit by cars on a 10-meter section of the road, we see a signboard set up by the local government that says, “You are traveling on one of the most beautiful roads in the nation.”

While the film has apparently tried to avoid more gruesome scenes, there are some pretty terrible episodes showing the deaths of animals. In one scene, we see the remains of a dead elk and her unborn baby and, in another, a snake called “Yuhyeolmokyi,” whose body is twisted in pain as its entrails spill out over the road.

The film was largely shot from the perspective of the animals as they make their attempts to cross the road. In one scene, a toad goes all out to crawl up and cross a four-lane motorway, when it gets frightened and then caught between the wheels of a moving cargo truck, over and over again.

For wild animals that venture onto the road to eat bugs and other animals that have been killed by passing vehicles, the road can be like a death trap. Birds and mammals lured onto the road by the temptation of eating the dead creatures are themselves killed as they enjoy their last meal.

On a happier note, the film also tells the story of a raccoon that has been fitted with a radio-frequency tracking device. The raccoon frequently crosses the road as children play nearby and lives, much to our surprise. Choi Cheon-gwon, a researcher with the Roadkill Research Team, said, “This place was originally owned by animals, not by us.”

The story of a one-year-old wildcat, nicknamed “Palpalyi,” which means fast and clever, is more dramatic. The wildcat was sent to an emergency treatment center in Gure, South Jeolla Province, in a state of unconsciousness following a car accident in Namwon, North Jeolla Province. After making a miraculous recovery, the wildcat was allowed to go back to its natural surroundings with one of the radio-frequency tracking devices attached. A month later, the wildcat returned to its home, 30 kilometers away from the expressway where the accident had occurred. Just four days later, however, the wildcat becomes a victim when it is hit by a passing vehicle. The tracking system shows that the wildcat crossed dangerous motorways 12 times in order to get home.

The film is seen by many as raising fundamental questions about the way roads are constructed, which is why, in the end, it does not provide viewers with quick-fix proposals, like the installation of overpasses for animals. The director, Hwang, asks, “What will humans do after they drive as fast as they can?”

“One Day on the Road” will be distributed commercially to theaters across the nation along with Hwang’s film “Farewell,” which depicts a zoo from the point of view of the animals that live there.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]