Critter Crossings

Critter Crossings

Introduction Imagine you are a turtle stuck on one side of a six-lane freeway. On the other side is food, room to roam, and maybe even a mate. Huge metal monsters race past you. They move much faster than you ever can. How can you hope to safely cross without being flattened?

Many animals-not just turtles--face the dangers of crossing roads every day. Some make it across, while others don't. Humans can help these animals safely move to the other side by building critter crossings, or ecopassages. They come in many different types, but they all help animals-including humans-stay alive.

Banff Is the Best Banff National Park in Canada has some of the most beautiful mountains in North America. It also has the Trans-Canada Highway running through it. During the busy summer, the highway may carry more than 25, 000 vehicles each day. It used to be the site of hundreds of collisions between animals and vehicles each year.

Then Parks Canada built over thirty animal underpasses and overpasses (with more planned for the future). The crossings cost millions of dollars and raised an important question: what if the animals didn't use them?

That first year, only one black bear and one mountain lion used the Banff crossings--one time each. Today, however, all sorts of animals move above and below the highway. As of 2011, animals have used the passes to cross more than 220, 000 times.