In 2018, Washington state authorities were working on a wildlife bridge spanning Interstate 90, which had recently been widened to six lanes. The state spent $9.5 million on a bridge and overpass along Oracle Road, just north of Tucson. Their presence has brought about a 90 percent drop in wildlife-related highway accidents in one stretch of central Arizona known for migrating elk populations. Since 2000, Arizona has constructed at least 20 corridors, including 17 underpasses, each augmented by funnel fencing. In recent years, several installations of animal crossings have occurred in the western United States. Integrating Conservation And Highway Construction
ANIMAL CROSSING ANIMAL CROSSING TEXT SOUND EFFECTS FULL
These statistics reveal the full scope of the beneficial effects that can arise from a conscientious effort to integrate conservation principles in highway construction. In addition, the mitigation contributed to an 80 percent reduction in motor accidents involving wildlife. Studies demonstrated that the corridors have specifically helped the grizzly bears maintain a wide enough selection of mates to stabilize their genetic flow. During that time, park officials documented more than 150,000 crossings by mammals such as elk ( Cervus canadensis), moose ( Alces alces), black bears ( Ursus americanus), cougar ( Puma concolor), and grizzly bears ( Ursus arctos). Between 19, 44 structures - six bridges and 38 underpasses - were built for wildlife to traverse the Trans-Canada Highway, the nation's longest road, which bisects the park. Despite the Davis community's efforts, the local toad population did not adopt the byway.įar more successful is the system of corridors in Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. The town's postmaster dressed up the area near one entrance as an amphibian-sized village, naming it Toad Hollow. In 1995, the city built a 15-centimeter (6-inch) wide tunnel, or "ecoduct," to allow frogs to pass under Pole Line Road toward a wetland on the other side. installations was in Davis, California, a college town near the capital of Sacramento. The idea took a little longer to catch on in the United States, but wildlife bridges and tunnels began appearing there in the 21st century. Wildlife crossings can also be found in Australia, Canada and other parts of the world. The Dutch built the world's longest animal crossing, the Natuurbrug Zanderij Crailoo, an overpass that spans more than 0.8 kilometers (0.5 miles). It took off in the Netherlands, where more than 600 crossings have been constructed to protect badgers, elk and other mammals. The concept was first developed in France in the 1950s. The crossings often work most effectively in conjunction with highway fencing, placed strategically on one or both sides of the entrance to funnel wildlife toward the corridor. This is to make them appear like a natural part of the landscape and help invite animal passage. Wildlife bridges, often called "green bridges" in the United Kingdom, are usually covered in native vegetation of various kinds. When successfully implemented, they can greatly reduce the likelihood of collisions, provide a safe corridor for animal transit and help reduce the ecological impact of highways by reconnecting animal habitats. Features of this kind are increasingly included in highway planning and road improvement schemes. The most common forms of wildlife crossing are bridges and overpasses, tunnels, viaducts and culverts. These can come in many forms, depending on the species involved and the geographic features of the land. Losing access to large areas of their living space makes it much harder for many woodland creatures to forage for food, find mates and carry on their genetic legacies.Īs people have become more aware of these dangers, one strategy to mitigate them has gradually gained acceptance: human made highway crossings designed just for animals. Still worse is the way major roads and other forms of development can subdivide animal populations and fragment their habitats. According to some estimates, automobile collisions kill more than a million animals every day, making them the leading cause of death for many vertebrate species. If your point of view considers the well-being of wildlife, the problem is greatly magnified. More Than A Million Animals Killed Every Day In the United States alone, there are more than a million automobile accidents per year involving wildlife, racking up more than $8 billion in medical costs and vehicle repairs annually. Crossing deer and other large mammals can create life-threatening hazards on roadways. Roadkill is a serious problem in motor transportation.
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