Effectiveness and costs of odor repellents in wildlife–vehicle collisions: A case study in Central Bohemia, Czech Republic

•Reducing total number of wildlife vehicle collision.•Determining the effectiveness of odor repellents against wild fauna.•Financial costs related to the application of odor repellents.•Results showed that the odor repellents are an effective tool to reduce WVC. This article summarizes the results of the field tests, when the efficiency and financial costs of the chosen odor repellents to reduce mortality of animals on selected roads and railways in the Czech Republic during the years 2011–2013 were evaluated. The main objective was to determine whether by using repellents it is possible to reduce the number of animals killed and evaluate the return of financial costs that are associated with the application of the repellents. Our results showed that the odor repellents are an effective tool to reduce wildlife–vehicle collision (WVC), and thanks to their application it was possible to reduce the cost of damage to property and reduce the number of killed animals by comparing the years 2011 (without measure) and 2013 (2years of repellent application) by 37% of the initial loss.