Wildlife Sightings at Western Canadian Regional Airports: Implications for Risk Analyses.

Aircraft collisions with wildlife result in substantial personal and economic losses, requiring airport authorities to utilize all available resources to develop effective management strategies. We surveyed 16 western Canadian regional airports to document the use of wildlife strike and sighting records (WSSRs). Ninety-four percent of airports kept wildlife strike records, 19% kept bird sighting records and 25% kept animal sighting records. Of 12 airports, 33% used WSSRs to identify problem species or trends and 25% used WSSRs for risk analysis and management planning. Our findings suggest that WSSRs are underutilized in risk analyses and ungulate strike risk may be underestimated at most respondent airports. Airport mangers must stress due diligence in record keeping and the application of wildlife data to support risk analyses and sound wildlife management practices at airports. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]