Wildlife Overpasses

Wildlife overpasses, green bridges, and ecoducts all refer to structures that have been built over roads to allow wildlife to cross safely to the other side of the road. The bridges are for the animals; the animals walk over the road, and the vehicles go through the structure. Most of the structures are between 10 m (30 ft) and 60 m (180 ft) wide. They typically have soil, litter, and vegetation on top to provide suitable habitat for a range of different species and species groups. The larger structures are typically intended for large mammals ranging from ungulates (e.g. deer, elk, moose) to large carnivores (e.g. black bear, grizzly bear, Canada lynx, wolverine, wolf). Here are pictures of some of the most beautiful and interesting wildlife overpasses in the world.


Wildlife Overpass, Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. In Banff National Park, there are currently 41 wildlife crossing structures (6 overpasses and 35 underpasses) that help wildlife safely cross the busy Trans-Canada Highway. Since monitoring began in 1996, 11 species of large mammals—including bears, elk and cougar—have used crossing structures more than 200,000 times.



Wildlife Overpass, Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada



Ecoduct in Netherlands; The Netherlands was one of the first countries to deploy a network of wildlife crossings across the landscape.



Ecoduct De Woeste Hoeve over the highway A50, Netherlands; The Netherlands contains an impressive display of over 600 wildlife crossings (including underpasses and ecoducts) that have been used to protect populations of wild boar, red deer, roe deer, and the endangered European badger.



Ecoduct (wildlife bridge) on highway A1 through nature area the Veluwe, the Netherlands.



Green bridge over the A20 near Grevesmühlen, Germany



"Animal bridge" in Montana, USA



Ecoduct in France



Aerial view of the wildlife overpass, Location unknown



Wildlife overpass near Keechelus Lake, Washington, USA



Wildlife overpass covered with vegetation; Location unknown



Aerial view of the wildlife overpass; Location unknown



Wildlife crossing over Compton Rd (SR30) at Kuraby near Karawatha Forest, Queensland, Australia



Ecoduct The Borkeld, Netherlands



Green bridge over the highway 464 near Boeblingen, Germany



Satellite image of the wildlife overpass; Location unknown



Unusual overpass for crabs: Red crabs climb over an overpass to cross a road on Christmas Island during their migration. (Christmas Island National Park, Australia)





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