 Roadside carcasses may not accurately reflect the true number of animals killed in road accidents due to the fact that they only represent a fraction of the total number of animals that have died. A study conducted in Australia showed that the death rate could be up to 12 to 16 times higher when compared to the number of carcasses found. This suggests that more attention needs to be paid to the gross casualty rate rather than accepting the net number of casualties as an indicator of loss. Factors such as predators, prey species, road type, traffic, season, time of day and weather all play a role in determining how many animals will die in a given area. This article was authored by FM Slater.