Finally, there's proof: If you build it, they will cross. As highways and other roads have stretched deeper into once-remote corners of the planet, building wildlife crossings has become a common way to preserve migration routes and prevent population isolation for a variety of species. One problem: there was little data showing the crossings actually work. A new study, however, has provided the first evidence that they do. Crossings built over and under a major highway in Banff National Park are being used by the surrounding grizzly and black bear populations, and are in fact preserving the bears' genetic diversity, as intended.
Researchers based their study on the Bow Valley area of Banff National Park, bisected by a stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway that had been widened from two lanes to four in the '80s and '90s to accommodate increased vehicular traffic through the popular park. During the expansion project, ...
