Safari roadkill: App blamed for use in for spike in speeding

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South Africa's flagship safari park wants to ban phone apps that gives tourists real time tips about animal sightings that encourage people to speed and kill the very animals they want to see. Officials at Kruger National Park have hit out following a spike in speeding, road kills, road rage and traffic jams as visitors race to get the best position.

The reckless rubbernecking and speeding of motorists responding to alerts has caused a growing list of victims including cheetah, hippo and antelope to be left dead and bleeding on the tarmac. ‘These mobile applications induce an unhealthy sense of eagerness for visitors to break the rules and, we are exploring legal mechanisms to curtail their use,’ said Hapiloe Sello, an park executive director.

The culture of game viewing at the South African reserve had changed as a result of technology, she added. ‘Most guests appreciate the leisurely drive through the parks and the potential reward of a good sighting as a key element of the visitor experience,’ she said.

The speed limit in the massive park, which is roughly the size of Belgium, is between 25 and 30 miles per hour, depending on the road surface. Animals often cross the tarmacked network of roads as they hunt or just head to a new waterhole. But this limit is now being broken on a regular basis, according to William Mabasa from SANParks.

Congestion around good sightings – such as lion feeding on prey or herds of elephants – has led to road rage as drivers fight over the best positions to take pictures. He told, ‘Not only are people rushing to these sightings after receiving a tip, when they get there the altercations can start. 'People are impatient for a good view and road rage can break out. Obviously people cannot get out of their cars because they are in the vicinity of wild animals, but they open their windows and begin shouting and gesticulating at one another.

‘The congestion can build up and noone can see or move. The behaviour is causing problems for us as managers of the park.