Wildlife Crossings Are a Bear Necessity

Safe passages for animals under or over highways are reducing road collisions and could help them to adapt to climate change by seeking out new habitats

- JEFF YOUNG

A MOOSE, A DEER AND A FOX walk into a tunnel. It might sound like the setup for a joke, but it's a scene that wildlife ecologist Patricia Cramer captured while studying how animals use wildlife crossings.

"This bull moose comes into the culvert in the middle of the night and the camera at one end catches him sleeping in the culvert," Cramer said as she described to Newsweek one of her favorite animal interactions from the thousands of hours of wildlife footage she and her husband have gathered.

A female mule deer tried to pass through the tunnel, only to find the dozing moose blocking her way. "While they're working it out, on the other end, there's a red fox caught by the other camera," Cramer said. "And so, within a few moments' time, we've got three different species interacting with each other and all using this culvert."

The unlikely meeting demonstrates the wide array of wildlife using tunnels and bridges to safely pass under or over highways that are too often the scenes of mass carnage. Wildlife-vehicle collisions kill millions of animals each year, cause massive property damage and result in thousands of human injuries and hundreds of deaths. And as climate change causes more animals to seek suitable habitat, wildlife crossings can help them adapt.

"Crossing structures are really important to help wildlife move about," Cramer said. "We've put roads and vehicles through their homes."

Cramer has been researching how wildlife and highways interact for nearly 20 years, and she is the founder and director of the Wildlife Connectivity Institute, which works with state and local governments to site and design wildlife crossings.