| Why
Did the Elk Cross the Road? |
| |
 Game
and Fish research helps to make highways
safer for motorists and wildlife alike.
If you’ve ever
played or seen the video game Frogger©,
where you try and get the frog safely across
the highway without getting hit by a vehicle,
you can relate to what wildlife experience
when they try to cross a highway. The big
differences are wildlife don’t have
3 lives or a reset button, and you could
be the loser if you hit an animal with
your vehicle.
Background:
Collisions with wildlife by motorists are
an ever-increasing problem. New roads are
being built constantly and old roads are
being upgraded to accommodate increasing
traffic volumes. In northern Arizona, collisions
with elk are a big concern. Weighing 600
or more pounds, a collision with an elk
can cause substantial vehicle damage, and
in the worst cases can result in serious
injury or death to motorists.
 The
Department has teamed up with the Arizona
Department of Transportation and federal
agencies to try to minimize collisions
with wildlife along a section of highway
in central Arizona. At the site of our
research, 2 wildlife underpasses have been
completed and others are being constructed
to allow wildlife to cross underneath the
highway safely and avoid being struck by
motorists. A total of 11 wildlife underpasses
and 6 bridges will function as crossings
for wildlife. Safe passage of large animals,
like elk, are the main focus since they
are the most dangerous to motorists, but
all species of wildlife will benefit from
these large structures.
Location:
This research project is being conducted in central Arizona, east of Payson
along a 17-mile stretch of State Route 260 just below the Mogollon Rim.
Approach:
The Department is primarily using 3 methods to evaluate the effectiveness
of wildlife underpasses and other measures put in place to minimize wildlife-vehicle
collisions:
 1)
We monitoring the use of underpasses by wildlife with infrared video surveillance
systems. This allows us to not only determine which kinds of wildlife use
the underpasses, and how many, but also to assess wildlife behavior as
they approach and cross the underpasses. Track beds are also looked at
on a weekly basis to monitor underpass usage by wildlife.
2) Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) collars have also been placed on
33 elk between May 2002 and October 2003, in various locations along the
17-mile stretch of highway where construction is ongoing. These GPS collars
record elk locations through the use of satellites, and with some collars
data is retrieved on a daily basis. This data will allow us to determine
elk movements and highway crossing locations, and is especially important
in determining how much fencing is needed to funnel wildlife toward the
underpasses and ensure that they are effective.
3) Lastly, we are monitoring the number of wildlife-vehicle collisions
that occur before, during and after construction to assess whether wildlife
underpasses and other measures help reduce the collision rate.
This research project is scheduled to continue through at least 2006.
Benefits:
Information gained on this project will result in a better understanding
of wildlife crossings and wildlife-highway relationships, and in the long
run lead to safer highways for both the public that travel the highways
and the wildlife that cross them.
For more
information contact:
Norris Dodd, Arizona Game and Fish Department, 5000 W. Carefree Highway, Phoenix,
AZ 85023.
Phone: (623) 236-7660 E-mail: doddnbenda@cybertrails.com
Jeff Gagnon, Arizona Game and Fish Department, 5000 W. Carefree Highway, Phoenix,
AZ 85023.
Phone: (623) 236-7660 E-mail: jeff_gagnon@yahoo.com |
| |
| back
to top |
|
|
|
| Related
AZGFD Info |
 |
|
|
|
