A compilation video from WSDOT (Washington State Division of Transportation) and Conservation NW reveals a number of animals utilizing a sequence of wildlife overpasses. The overpasses cross Interstate 90 close to Snoqualmie Cross in Washington State. Elk, martens, coyotes, moose, and what seems to be a cougar move by way of, proving how efficient wildlife overpasses may be.
Wildlife within the space as soon as roamed from Oregon to Canada. Nevertheless, I-90, which bisects Washington State from west to east, cuts off animals’ pure pathways. Fortunately, wildlife crossings now permit the realm’s unique inhabitants to move over and/or underneath the freeway unhurt.
Edited by Lauren Frohne of The Seattle Occasions, the video is a mashup of clips from wildlife cams exhibiting totally different species utilizing the overpass for varied functions. Some come to graze, some to play, some to spar with a companion, and a few to simply move by way of.
Watch what the cameras catch beneath. What shocked you most?
25,716 Secure Wildlife Crossings and Counting
The Seattle Occasions reviews that by the tip of final yr, WSDOT had recorded the 25,716th protected wildlife crossing within the venture zone. This included “13,525 by deer, 7,967 by elk, 3,216 by coyote and a handful by rarer species like moose, cougar, American marten, fisher and American pika.”
If all these animals had tried to cross I-90 as an alternative of crossing above or beneath it, a few of them wouldn’t have made it.
Whereas some animals nonetheless do cross the street the old school method, the variety of collisions between automobiles and wildlife is enormously lowered when animals have another technique to get the place they wish to go.
The I-90 Snoqualmie Cross East venture is ongoing. By 2031, The Seattle Occasions says the 15-mile, $1 billion venture will function a further 16 crossings.
