We all love our pets, but it's important to consider the health and safety of our wild animal populations as well.
I'm a huge champion of folks like this hero who rescued an injured baby deer and returned it safely home. Anyone that can put our animal friends front and center is truly making this world a better place for all of us.
So when I heard about what the Washington State Department of Transportation was doing to protect their wildlife population? Well, I thought it was completely brilliant!
Statistics show that over a million animals are killed every day by oncoming traffic — a devastating loss to both the local animal populations and the economy, costing taxpayers billions of dollars per year.
That's why the Department of Transportation, along with the I-90 Wildlife Bridges Coalition, a local animal advocacy group, is building the state's first ever wildlife-bridge. While Europe has hundreds of wildlife crossing structures, North America has relatively few, so Washington's lead is especially significant.
Scroll through to find out more about how these life-saving structures work.
Do you think wild-life bridges are a helpful solution? Let us know in the comments.
Animals bridges, also called "ecoducts" or wildlife crossings, are structures that allow animals to safely cross human-made barriers like highways. This is one artist's rendering of what the project in Washington will look like once completed.
"If we prevent [animals] from moving, we're blocking their ability to find food, places to live when conditions change, and access to new mates to allow for genetic diversity in the population," notes Jen Watkins, coordinator for the I-90 Wildlife Bridges Coalition.
The longest “ecoduct” viaduct, near Crailo in the Netherlands, runs 800 meters and spans a highway, railway, and golf course.
European countries like Germany and France have been using various crossing structures to reduce the conflict between wildlife and roads for several decades, saving animal populations like amphibians, badgers, ungulates, invertebrates, and other small mammals.
Wildlife crossings are being designed as living experiments, complete with data-gathering technologies built into the structure. This life-saving crossing is located in Scotch Plains, New Jersey.
A wildlife crossing is the broadest term but can also include structures like underpass tunnels, viaducts, overpasses and bridges, amphibian tunnels, fish ladders, culvets, green roofs, and more.
This is another incredible ecoduct from the Netherlands: a country boasting over 600 wildlife overpasses.
Most of these structures are typically around 180 feet wide and comprised of soil, litter, and vegetation in order to provide suitable habitats for a range of different species.
With this very unique animal bridge from Austrialia, red crabs climb over an overpass to cross a road on Christmas Island during their migration.
Spotted salamanders are just one of the many indigenous animal populations being protected by the bridges of Montana's Flathead Indian Reservation.
"Imagine getting in the car at Thanksgiving to head home to where you grew up, and driving under a few wildlife overpasses. That should be part of the American experience," shares Ted Zoli, bridge engineer and MacArthur Fellow.
With millions of wild creatures being killed by drivers, it is imperative that we do something about it. These wild animal bridges are one large step towards protecting these animals' lives.
Do you think animal bridges are an effective tool in maintaining wildlife populations? Let us know in the comments.
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