Animal crossings: the ecoducts helping wildlife navigate busy roads across the world Level 2

Animal crossings: the ecoducts helping wildlife navigate busy roads across 
the world
Level 2: 
Intermediate
Published by Macmillan Education Ltd. © Macmillan Education Limited, 2022.
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Patrick Greenfield
29 December, 2021 
From a tiny railway bridge for dormice in 
the UK to new animal crossings for deer 
and bears in Colorado, wildlife bridges are 
becoming popular. 
“Ten years ago, wildlife bridges were 
experimental. We didn’t know whether they 
would work or not. Now they’ve shown they 
cause huge reductions in collisions – in some 
cases, 85% to 99% reductions,” says Rob 
Ament, a road ecology expert. “You can design 
them for many species.”
Wildlife bridges are found on every continent: 
there is an elephant underpass near Mount 
Kenya; the Netherlands has a network of 
bridges for wolves; suspended water pipes are 
used in Java; and a bison bridge may help the 
animals cross the Mississippi.
Here are five projects from around the world 
helping animals make their way.
Alligator Alley, Florida
A 129km stretch of road bisects the 
Everglades, an enormous wetland that is 
home to thousands of alligators, deer and 
the endangered Florida panther. It used to 
be notorious for high-speed collisions with 
wildlife until the crossings were installed. 
Today, dozens of underpasses and fencing 
help wildlife navigate the road. “Fencing is 
critical along Alligator Alley. It keeps the wildlife 
off the roadway and on the crossing,” says 
Brent Setchell, a design engineer at Florida 
Department of Transportation. 
‘The tunnel of love’ on the Great Alpine 
Road, Australia
In south-east Australia, the Great Alpine 
Road was a threat to a colony of critically 
endangered mountain pygmy possums. Even 
though there are only about 150 in the colony, 
testing revealed genetic differences between 
sub-groups separated by the road. They are 
also threatened by fire, disappearing food 
sources and other species. Conservationists 
decided to build a “tunnel of love” between 
the isolated groups to improve mixing and 
strengthen their chances of survival. The tiny 
marsupials can cross the nearly 15-metre 
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tunnel in just 15 seconds – sometimes too fast 
for remote sensing cameras to capture them.