A week after reporting the loss of four ewes on the moors, a foal has been fatally hit by a speeding car.

This latest death marks a summer of recurring incidents at the same hotspot on the A386 at Common Lane. 

This casualty on the cut through for Lopwell Dam and Bere Alston brings the total of foals hit in that one spot alone this summer to three. 

Dartmoor livestock protection officer Karla McKechnie speculates on the height of the bracken and ferns which she thinks is contributing to the problem, but is asking drivers nonetheless to spare a thought for the wildlife and slow down.

She said: “There’s so much traffic and it’s just going too fast for the livestock living here. Drivers need to be more vigilant.”

As protection officer Karla strives to provide an environment for moorland animals to thrive and flourish. She may be used to the sight of livestock that have been hit but is incredulous that people are not reporting incidents.

“There’s no reason, and it’s not acceptable, to leave an animal down and suffering like that in the road,”, she said. “Get some help for that animal. That’s the very least people can do.”

Attending a foal lying with a broken back at Vennford near Holme or another left with its hind leg hanging by a thread of skin on the B3212, she says, “I’ve seen some horrors on the moors but these poor foals – it’s pretty haunting.”

PC Julian Fry of the rural affairs team at Devon and Cornwall Police is the livestock lead for the force.

He said: “Collisions between vehicles and animals across the moor is something that, unfortunately, happens all too frequently, and, in the vast majority of cases these incidents are completely avoidable.

Four ewes were hit and left to die by the side of the road at Pork Hill car park near Tavistock at the end of August.
Four ewes hit and left to die by the side of the road at Pork Hill car park near Tavistock at the end of August. (Karla McKechnie)

“We’d like to remind those using the roads that 40mph is the maximum permissible speed, however, the nature of the road, weather conditions, hedges, bushes and the presence of grazing animals will – in many cases – require a vehicle to travel at speeds considerably lower than this.”

Earlier this year, the Dartmoor Livestock Protection Society funded more than 1,000 collars for cattle and ponies as part of the ‘Reflect to Protect’ campaign. 

Cow collars are being used already on livestock that graze near busy roads such as the B3212 and B3357 and at Cadover; pony collars will be put on during the autumn drifts when the ponies are rounded up off the moors to be checked and have their foals weaned. 

PC Julian Fry added, “We hope that the reflective collars will help drivers to see livestock in low light conditions or at night and will encourage them to reduce their speed appropriately and pass animals safely.”

Anyone with information relating to regular speeding issues on the moors are encouraged to share information with police on 101 or at https://www.devon-cornwall.police.uk/

If you witness a collision involving a vehicle and an animal on Dartmoor or come across an injured animal, contact Karla McKechnie on 07873 587561.