A preventable tragedy
There are 1-2 million collisions between vehicles and large animals in the U.S. every year, resulting in the death of more than 200 people. On top of the loss of life, these collisions result in more than 26,000 human injuries and $8 billion in property damage.
Every year, American vehicle collisions kill 350 million large and small vertebrate animals including mountain lions, deer, bears, toads, turkeys, skunks, rabbits and elk.
Animals face a deadly choice
Roads and highways cut across important habitat and migration routes, fragmenting and separating animals from their natural areas. This forces animals to make a deadly choice. They can cross the dangerous and busy road and hope to find a mate, food, or suitable territory on the other side, or stay put in an ever-shrinking territory.
Wildlife is in decline. We need more solutions.
A study conducted by the World Wildlife Fund found that since 1970 we have seen a 39% decline in North American animal populations spanning nearly 5,500 different species.
Reversing this decline will be complicated, but the problem of highways and animal collisions has a simple solution. Wildlife crossings built over or under busy roads can offer a crossing for animals, repair fragmented habitats and restore natural migration routes.
Wildlife crossings work
Wildlife crossings can reduce wildlife collisions by nearly 97%. Millions of animal lives, hundreds of human lives, and over $8 billion are lost from wildlife-vehicle collisions every year. Wildlife crossings have succeeded at reducing these collisions and making a positive impact on wildlife. America needs to keep investing in wildlife crossings at the state and federal levels.
We’re calling on lawmakers to save lives by building new wildlife crossings.