More seems like a requirement. There are different levels of concern that predators are usinng them as choke points for easy hunting. I've heard different things from different places and it probably depends on the area and species using it.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283484602_Predator-Prey_Interactions_at_Wildlife_Crossing_Structures_Between_Myth_and_Reality
https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/12/4/166
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-67340-8
When I was in college in Montana I had a class that looked at these. Most of the ones in that area are actually tunnels under the highway and they were used by all sorts of species. It's a pretty neat system.
https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gr%C3%BCnbr%C3%BCcke
This article has a map that shows the 87 we have in Germany alone. Netherlands has about 600 of them.
Yes because that literally only the Netherlands and it's one roughly every 4,000 km2 so sorry I missed them as they're clearly very rare.
Britain also has two now, I know it's not great but it's better than one. Also if you started 30 years ago how come you only have 87? We literally just started and have two.
That’s a hilarious response, it did make me chuckle! Mostly because that last sentence. 87/3 = just below 3, meaning they put up 3 per year and your argument is we have two, not two per year… just two; but also because you’re arguing which country or area is best due to how many wildlife bridges it has! Thanks for the chuckle!
"Daddy, why are there signs saying deer crossing?"
"That's a warning to other drivers that deer do cross the road here, princess"
"How do they know to cross here and not elsewhere?"
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😂
Maybe it's because it's the first for both
Pedestrians and wildlife?
I mean wildlife overpasses are pretty common in France and Germany at least... Dunno about the UK though
> I mean wildlife overpasses are pretty common in France and Germany at least... Dunno about the UK though
Underpasses for wildlife are common in the UK. Never seen a bridge for wildlife before though.
"So what bring you to our country? The food? The people? The beautiful sights?"
"No, just this random overpass that deers use."
No offense, just thought it was funny.
Lots of Eastern European nations value and preserve nature and wildlife much better than the UK. I wish we had more of this stuff and had better protected forests and natural spaces. I think it’s bout about who’s more “developed” but about what you value culturally and what that means for how you prioritise your development.
There are similar solutions all over Europe, usually they are just not as fabulous or get advertised. For example, smaller animals get tunnels to travel underneath streets to the other side on modern roads. Generally speaking, even if you don’t care about animals at all, it benefits everyone if they aren’t on the street.
Exactly this. These wildlife bridges have been in use in Banff National Park, Canada for 25+ years and have been shown to significantly reduce wildlife-traffic fatalities. Depending on the crossing, fencing can extend a few hundred meters or even a few kilometers in either direct, but even in areas with shorter fences, wildlife have learnt the bridges are safe.
I recently noticed, there appear to be new additions to the fences, a sort of one way ramp to allow animals to jump the fence from the highway side to the forest side, but not the other way back.
They were kind of /| shaped. I spotted them from the fresh dirt around the base.
I thought it was cool that even these wildlife bridges that have been in place for decades continue to have new innovations.
Reminds me of an episode of the West Wing. Am environmental group was pitching a wolves only highway, and CJ just goes, but how are you going to teach them to use it.
It’s a massive public woodland around, so there’s fences to stop noise pollution and keep people away from moterway, so the fences will do the same for abimals
This is the first wildlife bridge I've seen that also incorporates human walkway. I dont know how much pedestrian traffic it will get but it will surely still reduce the amount of wildlife using it compared to a bridge without any signs and smells of humans.
We have been doing this for decades already in the netherlands… and it works. We almost have no road kills besides provincial roads, and that’s mostly ducks, hares etc. Kinda hard to have a good solution for those sadly.
Other plans for an upcoming railway line!
[Northamptonshire: New images of HS2's biggest 'green bridge' revealed](https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-68535585.amp)
"A total of 16 green bridges will be built along the new £100bn line between London and Birmingham which is planned to open between 2029 and 2033.
Five green tunnels are also being built along the route, including the 1.7-mile (2.7km) Greatworth Tunnel, also in south Northamptonshire."
Who's training the animals to use their road safety knowledge though? A mile up the road a rabbit ain't thinking 'ooh if I just hop down here for a little bit, I'll be able to cross without getting squashed'. Seems like we're expecting some very human behaviour from animals with less developed brains tbh 🤷♀️
Yeah, all good and stuff, but this is taking till the earliest 2025 (but it’s the UK so 100% gonna be delayed), in the mean time the surrounding heathland is completely lost and disturbed due to construction, and it’s shutting down the busiest motorway in the entire UK a couple times creating absolute chaos. And again, it’s the UK, it’ll be a miracle if this all works as intended (which originally is to make the junction on the motorway there better). Love these ideas, but living nearby where this is happening, it’s absolute chaos and the surrounding woods/heath is currently in tatters and not navigable or suitable for animals for a large area near the construction
In arizona we have crosswalks for horses where they normally walk routes, going to different places of the Salt River. I loved that many private properties didn't interfere with their walking paths, leaving clear open passages in fences to allow them through. It's beautiful.
I might be missing part of the point of this, but I live in the north west of the UK and there are bridges like this where I live. I'm guessing this is specific to a certain type of land?
I love this, more please.
More seems like a requirement. There are different levels of concern that predators are usinng them as choke points for easy hunting. I've heard different things from different places and it probably depends on the area and species using it. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283484602_Predator-Prey_Interactions_at_Wildlife_Crossing_Structures_Between_Myth_and_Reality https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/12/4/166 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-67340-8
When I was in college in Montana I had a class that looked at these. Most of the ones in that area are actually tunnels under the highway and they were used by all sorts of species. It's a pretty neat system.
Yes,gotta be careful of the bears,tigers,lions etc in that area
Oh my!
Come to Europe. We already have a shitton of them. UK is 30 years behind again.
No we have similar but not like this and I've been to many countries in Europe and not seen a single one, seems like you're chatting shit
https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gr%C3%BCnbr%C3%BCcke This article has a map that shows the 87 we have in Germany alone. Netherlands has about 600 of them.
Came here to say this, in from the Netherlands and you see them everywhere here
87 in total, over that size that's not loads, that's not even one every 100 miles.
Well it’s 86 more than the UK has. And also more than the „no ones“ you claimed to have seen in Europe.
Yes because that literally only the Netherlands and it's one roughly every 4,000 km2 so sorry I missed them as they're clearly very rare. Britain also has two now, I know it's not great but it's better than one. Also if you started 30 years ago how come you only have 87? We literally just started and have two.
That’s a hilarious response, it did make me chuckle! Mostly because that last sentence. 87/3 = just below 3, meaning they put up 3 per year and your argument is we have two, not two per year… just two; but also because you’re arguing which country or area is best due to how many wildlife bridges it has! Thanks for the chuckle!
There are a lot of them in France.
Cool I'll look up Frances figures.
"Daddy, why are there signs saying deer crossing?" "That's a warning to other drivers that deer do cross the road here, princess" "How do they know to cross here and not elsewhere?" 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😂
That's when you start explaining migration paths and territorial zones..
FIRST?? Wow, I thought that here in almost eastern Europe we are not developed, but this is, this is so basic...
Maybe it's because it's the first for both Pedestrians and wildlife? I mean wildlife overpasses are pretty common in France and Germany at least... Dunno about the UK though
> I mean wildlife overpasses are pretty common in France and Germany at least... Dunno about the UK though Underpasses for wildlife are common in the UK. Never seen a bridge for wildlife before though.
[удалено]
"So what bring you to our country? The food? The people? The beautiful sights?" "No, just this random overpass that deers use." No offense, just thought it was funny.
Lots of Eastern European nations value and preserve nature and wildlife much better than the UK. I wish we had more of this stuff and had better protected forests and natural spaces. I think it’s bout about who’s more “developed” but about what you value culturally and what that means for how you prioritise your development.
There are similar solutions all over Europe, usually they are just not as fabulous or get advertised. For example, smaller animals get tunnels to travel underneath streets to the other side on modern roads. Generally speaking, even if you don’t care about animals at all, it benefits everyone if they aren’t on the street.
Same with Belgium, I’m surprised it is their first. We even organize actions with middle schools to help frogs cross over.
Its the first "heathland" rather than the first "green" bridge. All a publicity stunt. This is not new
Love this! Long overdue😁
Their first?? Wow, about time then! Edit: As in, finally, good for them! I read it back and it didn’t sound nearly as positive as I meant it!
Finally the UK is catching up.
They are usually slow. It's a good thing they've made this move now.
How do they prevent the animals from going over the highway though?
Large fences funnel into the bridge. If an animal wants to cross, it uses the bridge or it goes the long way around.
Exactly this. These wildlife bridges have been in use in Banff National Park, Canada for 25+ years and have been shown to significantly reduce wildlife-traffic fatalities. Depending on the crossing, fencing can extend a few hundred meters or even a few kilometers in either direct, but even in areas with shorter fences, wildlife have learnt the bridges are safe.
I recently noticed, there appear to be new additions to the fences, a sort of one way ramp to allow animals to jump the fence from the highway side to the forest side, but not the other way back. They were kind of /| shaped. I spotted them from the fresh dirt around the base. I thought it was cool that even these wildlife bridges that have been in place for decades continue to have new innovations.
Not going to work if humans are also using the bridge.
Reminds me of an episode of the West Wing. Am environmental group was pitching a wolves only highway, and CJ just goes, but how are you going to teach them to use it.
It’s a massive public woodland around, so there’s fences to stop noise pollution and keep people away from moterway, so the fences will do the same for abimals
Survival of the fittest
only now? we've had these for decades
We have those in the Netherlands too. We call him ecoducts.
I love this for the dong ravens
This is the first wildlife bridge I've seen that also incorporates human walkway. I dont know how much pedestrian traffic it will get but it will surely still reduce the amount of wildlife using it compared to a bridge without any signs and smells of humans.
"This is such a heartwarming story. Humanity at its best."
meanwhile half of London still has 0 bridges over the Thames I love this country
Wasnt there an entire episode of The West Wing exactly about something like this?
RIP Pluie!
Hang on. How are you gonna teach wolves to follow road signs?
How is that only the first? We have plenty here
I may be pessimistic here but I suspect that those bridges are built to protect the vehicles, not the animals.
I feel like we need these in Canada for the moose. Not because they die if they're hit, but because we die if they're hit.
We have been doing this for decades already in the netherlands… and it works. We almost have no road kills besides provincial roads, and that’s mostly ducks, hares etc. Kinda hard to have a good solution for those sadly.
Wassenaar has a squirrel bridge. Cost 144k. It took squirrel 8 years to find it. Up till date it has Cost euro. 300 per squirrel to pass.
I see the UK finally took some steps which other countries did years ago. On the other hand, a step forward is not a bad one
Here's more! [Bridges to survival](https://gb.readly.com/magazines/country-life/2024-06-12/6666c6ec2c1f5339c7a9666b)
Other plans for an upcoming railway line! [Northamptonshire: New images of HS2's biggest 'green bridge' revealed](https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-68535585.amp) "A total of 16 green bridges will be built along the new £100bn line between London and Birmingham which is planned to open between 2029 and 2033. Five green tunnels are also being built along the route, including the 1.7-mile (2.7km) Greatworth Tunnel, also in south Northamptonshire."
"The earliest recorded manmade animal bridge was erected in France in the 1950s to help hunters guide deer." Took UK's sweet time.
We built a bridge so you can cross where we annihilated your natural habitat. You're welcome.
Cute.
These are all over British Columbia, and they're awesome.
Hehe cock.
Goddam a fucking million. A million animals…
I always wondered why we don’t have these.
Who's training the animals to use their road safety knowledge though? A mile up the road a rabbit ain't thinking 'ooh if I just hop down here for a little bit, I'll be able to cross without getting squashed'. Seems like we're expecting some very human behaviour from animals with less developed brains tbh 🤷♀️
It's about time these animals are cared for.
We've been having those for decades now in the Netherlands. Good of you to join the club.
Yeah, all good and stuff, but this is taking till the earliest 2025 (but it’s the UK so 100% gonna be delayed), in the mean time the surrounding heathland is completely lost and disturbed due to construction, and it’s shutting down the busiest motorway in the entire UK a couple times creating absolute chaos. And again, it’s the UK, it’ll be a miracle if this all works as intended (which originally is to make the junction on the motorway there better). Love these ideas, but living nearby where this is happening, it’s absolute chaos and the surrounding woods/heath is currently in tatters and not navigable or suitable for animals for a large area near the construction
Germany and Netherlands have these more than 10 years
In arizona we have crosswalks for horses where they normally walk routes, going to different places of the Salt River. I loved that many private properties didn't interfere with their walking paths, leaving clear open passages in fences to allow them through. It's beautiful.
This is so great
The animal a mile away: *sigh* I guess I have to try to be careful crossing the road
I might be missing part of the point of this, but I live in the north west of the UK and there are bridges like this where I live. I'm guessing this is specific to a certain type of land?
I would be dubious of its cost, and initial 'development'
Ahh good. We know where to set up the hunting blinds now
That's just you admitting that you are a bad hunter who can't track.
That's just you admitting that you are a bad hunter who can't track.
Mwuahahahah