Thousands of possums mysteriously dying on roads in Dominica

Dominica: In recent months, there have been reports of a sudden spike in the number of unfortunate incidents claiming the lives of the furry friends, the possums across Dominica. Thousands of these species have been found dead on the roads, which is chasing a lot of local attention and sparking speculations about the cause of their death.

According to the locals the possum population has surged during recent times which forces them to come out of their natural habitats in the mountains and jungles and onto the main roads and highways in search of food. However, this is resulting in the demise of this population.

“Not very long ago, but there were few of the locals who used to eat these possums. But I feel that after that, the population of possums has increased, which is one of the reasons that possums are compelling to come out on the roads,” says one of the locals from Trafalgar.

He further added that otherwise, possums used to live in the high mountains or jungle areas, and they never come on roads.

It is suspected that the main reason behind these killings is the vehicles moving very fast on the roads, especially across Trafalgar and Laudat, as locals have reported witnessing dead possums around these areas.

A resident of Laudat named Rile said, “I believe that the reason behind the continuous spike in deaths of possums is because of getting hit by transport and vehicles moving on the roads. At the same time, stray dogs could also be the reason for it, as the stray dogs chase possums and kill them for the flesh.”

Edward Josh, another local, agreed that traffic is the main reason behind the death of possums around the island nation.

Josh noted, “Possums are afraid of traffic. Whenever they see the headlights of moving vehicles on the roads, they get afraid and cannot be able to make another step. As a result, they are dying, and there is no other possible reason for this.”

According to the factual data, this species are mostly nocturnal and are mainly active after the dark and they are found during the daylight very rarely. The lights of the vehicles on the roads tend to scare them, which results in them being shocked and unable to run to save their lives.