Sunday 3 December 2017

Family-friendly overpasses are needed to help grizzly bears, study suggests


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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