Wildlife, livestock and rural road safety

Expect stock

Slow well before sheep, cattle, horses or a farmer controlling movement. Follow gestures and never sound the horn aggressively through a mob.

Manure, mud and wet grass can reduce grip after the animals pass. Accelerate gently and give farm vehicles room.

Protect coastal wildlife

At seal and penguin areas, park only in formed spaces and walk the final distance. Keep the legal or advised separation and never stand between an animal and the sea.

Birds may nest beside roads or strike vehicles at dusk. Lower speed around signed habitat and avoid night driving through active areas.

After a collision

Stop safely, protect people from traffic and call 111 for an emergency. Report stock or injured protected wildlife to the responsible authority.

Do not handle an injured wild animal without direction. Stress, teeth and traffic can create another casualty.

Stock on the road is normal here

Herds being moved between paddocks on rural roads are routine, and you may come around a corner into a full dairy herd. Slow right down, stop if asked, and follow the directions of the farmer or the person moving them.

Move through slowly and steadily rather than trying to weave; the animals will part around a slow vehicle. Do not sound the horn, which scatters stock and makes it considerably worse for everyone.

Unfenced roads and wandering animals

Many rural and high country roads are unfenced, and sheep, cattle and deer can be on the carriageway at any time, day or night. This is particularly common in the Mackenzie, Central Otago, Northland and on back roads everywhere.

At night, animals appear at the edge of your headlights with very little warning. Reduce speed on unfenced roads after dark, and be aware that where there is one animal there are usually more.

Do not swerve

Braking in a straight line is almost always the correct response to an animal on the road. Swerving is what turns an animal strike into a rollover, a head-on or a departure off the road, and in a high-sided campervan the rollover risk is real.

Possums, hares and rabbits are the most common animals hit and are not worth any evasive action at all. For larger stock, brake hard and straight and accept the impact rather than leaving the road.

Protected wildlife on and near roads

Kea at Arthur's Pass, Homer Tunnel and Fiordland car parks are drawn to vehicles and are regularly killed on roads. Penguins cross roads near the coast in Oamaru, the Catlins and Banks Peninsula, and blue penguins nest under buildings and vehicles.

Never feed kea, which is what brought them to car parks in the first place. Check under and around a parked vehicle before moving it in penguin areas, and drive slowly through signed wildlife zones after dark.

Rural driving beyond the animals

Farm vehicles, tractors and stock trucks use rural roads at low speed and turn into unmarked gateways with little warning. Expect mud on the road near farm entrances, which can be as slippery as ice on a sealed surface.

Logging trucks on West Coast and central North Island roads are wide, fast and cannot move over much. Give them the full lane, slow down when one approaches on a narrow section, and do not attempt to overtake one on a winding road.

Many rural intersections have limited visibility because of hedges and shelter belts. Treat every uncontrolled rural intersection as one where something may emerge, and remember that local drivers know the road and you do not.

Reporting an animal strike

Hitting stock is a matter for the farmer and you should stop and report it, both because the animal may need attention and because the owner needs to know. Hitting protected wildlife should be reported to DOC.

Do not attempt to move an injured large animal yourself. Note the location, call it in, and be aware that a live animal on the road is a hazard to the next vehicle as well.

Places along the way