However, for animals like salamanders and snakes, moist, dark culverts are better.ĭetermining where to locate crossing structures and how they are designed involves understanding site-specific needs and the preferences of regional species. Researchers found that deer weren’t using them because, based on their vision, the opening on the other end looked too tiny to pass through, Frey explains, adding that it’s important to keep vegetation clear on both sides so animals feel safe from predators that may be lurking around. Many underpasses were too narrow for large game animals to comfortably pass through. Out west, culverts were easy structures to erect as new highways were built, Frey says. In Utah, the majority of its wildlife crossings are culverts, or underpasses. The moment was captured on a trail camera in the Santa Cruz mountains of California in 2020 and the footage continues to go viral in news stories today. ![]() Then together the animals trot through the dark culvert, safely avoiding the busy highway above. A coyote jumps playfully out of a tunnel, tail wagging, as if encouraging its pal, a badger flagging behind, to follow. It could be a scene in a children’s book. While there is no one-size-fits-all solution, there are numerous methods for rerouting wildlife across busy stretches of roadway, including highway underpasses, overpasses, ramps, and dropdown fencing. Other reasons for investing in wildlife crossings is to protect historic migration routes and the genetic diversity of species like mountain lions that have extensive territories often fractured by roads, neighborhoods, and fencing. “Of course, the larger the animal, the greater the chance that that collision is going to be a fatality.” “When we get wildlife onto our highways they get trapped and freaked out and that’s when you see the vehicle collisions,” says Nicki Frey, a wildlife biologist for Utah State University’s Berryman Institute who specializes in human-wildlife interactions. Transportation studies suggest that when safe passageway is available, collisions with wildlife decrease 90%. In Utah alone, a report from the state’s Department of Transportation’s Research & Innovation Division found that between 20, vehicle collisions with animals produced an annual societal cost of over $138 million. And it’s not just because people love animals, it’s a move that makes economic sense. In 2021, legislatures nationwide pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to connect habitat through the strategic placement of wildlife crossings and partnerships with private landowners. States from California to Florida are banking on it. Our online platform, Wiley Online Library () is one of the world’s most extensive multidisciplinary collections of online resources, covering life, health, social and physical sciences, and humanities.If you build it, wildlife will come. ![]() With a growing open access offering, Wiley is committed to the widest possible dissemination of and access to the content we publish and supports all sustainable models of access. Wiley has partnerships with many of the world’s leading societies and publishes over 1,500 peer-reviewed journals and 1,500+ new books annually in print and online, as well as databases, major reference works and laboratory protocols in STMS subjects. ![]() Wiley has published the works of more than 450 Nobel laureates in all categories: Literature, Economics, Physiology or Medicine, Physics, Chemistry, and Peace. has been a valued source of information and understanding for more than 200 years, helping people around the world meet their needs and fulfill their aspirations. Our core businesses produce scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly journals, reference works, books, database services, and advertising professional books, subscription products, certification and training services and online applications and education content and services including integrated online teaching and learning resources for undergraduate and graduate students and lifelong learners. Wiley is a global provider of content and content-enabled workflow solutions in areas of scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly research professional development and education.
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