Sadly, road traffic is one of the biggest killers of wild animals who live near human habitations. Every year thousands of animals are killed as a result of crossing the road in the United States, including deer, foxes and bears.
The state of Utah, with its wide rugged open expanses, was one of the worst for animal road deaths. The I-80 being the worst road in the state, and state workers continually finding road-kill day after day on the road. The I-80 was so bad that it was even dubbed 'slaughter-row'.
Over the course of 2 years, this road alone claimed the lives of 122 deer, 13 moose, 3 mountain lions and 4 elk. All these deaths occurred over just the 13 miles that the I-80 spans.
To solve this problem, the state decided to construct a bridge that now allows wild animals to pass over the road instead of crossing it and already results are being seen.
The state has imposed three and a half miles of fencing, meaning that animals can no longer cross as they used to and are instead encouraged to head towards the safe bridge, but this hasn’t just been the work of the state alone. Pioneering this project has been 'Save People, Save Wildlife', a non-profit organisation specifically created to stop animal road deaths. The group raised $100,000 to create the fencing and then, along with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, decided to create a bridge over the busy road. Not only does the bridge save animal lives, but it protects human lives, which can be sadly lost as a result of crashing after swerving to avoid animals on the road and as a result of heavy animals such as elk hitting their windscreen.
This new footage taken of the underpass shows a wide variety of animals now safely crossing the road, all of whom would have previously put their lives in danger taking the same trip.
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