Design of wildlife road crossings is crucial
for protecting grizzlies
Date: November
27, 2017
Source:
University of British Columbia Okanagan campus
Researchers have determined how female
grizzly bears keep their cubs safe while crossing the Trans-Canada Highway.
Adam Ford, Canada Research Chair in Wildlife
Restoration Ecology at UBC's Okanagan campus, along with Montana State
University's Tony Clevenger, studied the travel patterns of grizzlies in Banff
National Park between 1997 and 2014. In most cases, a mother bear travelling
with cubs opted to use a wildlife overpass instead of a tunnel to cross the
highway.
"We used data from Canada's longest and
most detailed study of road-wildlife interactions," explains Ford, an
assistant professor of biology. "We found that grizzly bear females and
cubs preferred to use overpasses to cross the highway."
During the 17-year study period, bears not
travelling in these family groups used both underpasses and overpasses.
"You can't just build a tunnel under a highway and expect to conserve
bears," says Ford. "Our work shows that the design of structures used
to get bears across the road matters for reconnecting grizzly bear
populations."
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