I really loved this book. Animals and humans frequently come into conflict over human structure, human laws, and human expectations of animal behavior. Darryl Jones takes just one of these issues, the road, and does a thoroughly in depth read about their ecological impact and surrounding environmental issues. From deforestation to casualty numbers, Jones is looking at the ways humans alter habitat and the cause and effect it has on the natural world. This isn't a book that's just about destruction. Its also a book at what ecologists, surveyors, land managers and more are working to create systems that are more sustainable for the animal world as well as the human one. Absolutely fascinating and well worth the read.

Road ecology is having its moment. As new roads carve scars through the Amazon, Africa and at-risk habitats around the world, books like this help us to understand the damage they do — and the ways we can mitigate the problems they create.

When our youngest son started driving on his own he experienced something all too familiar to residents of central Pennsylvania–indeed, residents throughout much of the US and other parts of the world. A deer jumped out in front of him and he hit it.

The deer’s injuries did not keep it from dashing off into the dark. Thankfully, our son was uninjured and the car had only minor damage. Still, the experience shook him and he was nervous about driving again for some time.

I’ve been driving much longer. Although I am generally very careful, I have hit my share of animals. A deer, squirrels, chipmunks, birds. Given that much of my driving has been in urban areas, I have not had nearly as many car/wildlife encounters as many do who live in areas with more creatures and fewer humans.

The Clouded Leopard in the Middle of the Road is all about the carnage our vehicles have left on the animal world. We often think of the animals we can easily see or that can damage our vehicles or injure our passengers: deer, antelope, wild cattle, larger predators. We talk about the metaphorical elephant in the room, but an elephant on the road is a major problem in India or Thailand or Kenya. The real devastation, though, is with smaller creatures: insects, lizards, snakes, rodents,amphibians, small marsupials, birds, etc. Cars create bands of barrenness along the highways. We used to travel to a small Indiana town along a highway constantly riddled with the bodies of opossums. Every week the dozens we saw before would be replaced by dozens more. Multiply that by the millions of miles of roads across the entire planet, and you begin to see what havoc we wreak on the landscape and the animals that live in it.

Roads often follow ancient animal trails, or cross their migration paths, or separate populations from sources of food, water, or mates. Regardless of how fast an animal may be, cars are faster. They shine or reflect lights that distract, they hurtle along at breathtaking speeds, and they are made in ways designed to protect those within rather than those without. And although the book did not get into this, I can’t help but wonder whether the advent of nearly silent electric cars will make these encounters even harder for creatures to avoid.

Darryl Jones’s work involves coming up with solutions to this problem. Countries around the world are trying various approaches. Overpasses and underpasses designed specifically to give animals safe transit across roads have had some success. Novel road designs which take the environment into account have successfully reduced the number of animals killed by transiting vehicles. There is no “one size fits all” approach, and given the millions of paved miles around the world it will take years to make any difference with more than very local significance. Still, as the parable of the boy throwing starfish from the beach back into the sea reminds us, although the difference may be small in the face of the problem, to the areas benefiting from these changes, they mean the world.

Our thanks to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book to review.

From a koala peacefully ambling across an overpass in Australia, the author takes us through contrasting roads. He shows us a dirt track through a rainforest in Borneo; a year later, the tarmac highway with wide cleared roadsides had removed any possibility that a clouded leopard would again stand in the road.

Whether a moose, camel or kangaroo, large animals colliding with vehicles tends to end badly for all concerned. But smaller animals such as the Tasmanian devils collared and monitored in a study are just wiped out when a road is resurfaced; the explanation is the added speed of vehicles.

Overpasses and underpasses are being designed with ecologists, and we are shown some structures in various stages of newness and later use. The photos are excellent. Even a rope ladder up on poles can help animals adapted to use it.

Wildlife crosses roads for many reasons. One is to find food, shelter or safety. Another is to find a mate. Fragmented populations means the isolation of DNA in 'island' groups and the gradual inbreeding that can make a population unviable. Adapting a road, the Hume Freeway, to help gliders cross, and comparing it with a farm track, the scientists learned that while more gliders used the new safe crossing than had attempted the journey previously, the farm track crossing was still greatly more used. They ascribed this to the heavy traffic, including goods vehicles, day and night on the major road. Continued studies were needed. A camera trap appeared to show many underpass crossings by koalas, but these surprisingly turned out to be many crossings by one male koala. Finding which animals used the cross points, and which did not, was essential. Another example given is Banff, as the Trans-Canada Highway is crossed by more fauna corridors than are in most countries. Finally we are told how a culverted river was opened to the sky again, and the life that returned with the water.


I found this a fascinating book which will be read and enjoyed - apart from the casualty numbers, deforestation and other environmental issues - by ecologists, surveyors, land managers and zoologists. People can and should make a difference, where humans have altered the habitat. Also, this work makes roads safer for people, and reduces insurance claims. I don't like the cover, which is boring and has no relation to ecology. An overpass would have been better.

In my e-ARC the Appendix begins on p. 219, listing species in the text, sugar gliders to sun bears. Notes are not given after chapters but start on p. 223. References p. 233 - 240.

I read an advance copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for a review.

I had some difficulty assigned a rating to this book. On the one hand, it’s quite thoroughly research, well supported, and written by an obvious expert in the field. There are many real world narratives of fragmentation issues and solutions, many of which are first hand experiences. Throughout, iconic wildlife is at the forefront, but many lesser known — yet equally (if not more) important — species are included as well. Personally I found the kiwi chapter quite endearing, but perhaps that’s my own personal appreciation of the birds.

On the other hand, I can’t help but feel it got fairly repetitive. Anecdote after anecdote merely followed a similar pattern of: 1. These animals are being killed already. 2. The local department of transit wants to expand a road. 3. Local grassroots efforts fight back. 4. Miraculously everyone gets along and overpasses, culverts, underpasses, and ecoducts are installed. Perhaps I found the kiwi chapter (near the end) so interesting because it was decently different, this chapter, diverting animals wasn’t the goal, reigning in drivers was the goal. There was also one place where two figures seemed swapped (figures 27 and 28, although being an advance copy I can hope it’s fixed before the final).

I fear in the end the book falls in between two audiences, a general public with an interest in the environment, and an informed scientific audience with a personal or professional interest. Perhaps a bit too dry/dense for a less informed reader, but not technical enough to be of tangible use to research (although the author does point out several examples of that kind of book). Overall I lean towards a 3.5/5 or so, I’ll round up to a 4 given the obvious importance of the topic and the clear research given.

A delightful book full of adventure, action, and thrills. Fun to read, engrossing world building, and very descriptive imagery made it feel like it was cinematic. It's hard to resist the story as it drives forward. Would recommend.

This books is very timely and important. It encourages us to think how our human projects impact the wildlife around us. This book is also a call to action to ensure humans consider wildlife and the environment when developing.