State of Wyoming has an new app to claim roadkill

Jaden Bales provided this picture showing the outline of a mule deer doe that was struck by a friend's car on US 287 near Lander, Wyo. He claimed the carcass for food using Wyoming's new roadkill app. (Photo via The Associated Press)

About 30 states have laws allowing residents to collect roadkill for food, but we've only heard of one that has an app for that. It's a new feature in the Wyoming Department of Transportation's app, which "helps people quickly claim accidentally killed deer, elk, moose, wild bison or wild turkey after documenting the animal and reviewing the rules for collecting roadkill to eat," reports Mead Gruver of The Associated Press. "Unlike in other states such as Alaska, roadkill meat in Wyoming can’t be donated to anybody, including charities."

"Another purpose is to help people follow the rules," Gruver reports. "For safety reasons, roadkill in Wyoming may not be collected after dark, along interstate highways or in construction zones." And it helps collect data for the state: "By geotagging roadkill with their phones and documenting the species, app users will contribute to the data that help Wyoming wildlife biologists and highway officials decide where to install wildlife crossing signs and other ways of reducing critter deaths."