A recently published study by scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Oregon State University has confirmed that efforts to protect migrating pronghorn by installing wildlife crossing structures over highways have succeeded, in terms of the increased success rate of pronghorn crossings over time.
A recently published study by scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Oregon State University has confirmed that efforts to protect migrating pronghorn by installing wildlife crossing structures over highways have succeeded, in terms of the increased success rate of pronghorn crossings over time.
This work, in combination with data from the Wyoming Department of Transportation that show a 70 percent reduction in wildlife-vehicle collisions after installation of crossing structures and fences, provides evidence that wildlife can adapt to using crossing structures meant to keep animals and drivers safe while allowing for continued wildlife migration.
In order to gauge a potential stress reaction by pronghorn to construction and crossing structures, the researchers designed their study to collect behavioral data when the animals approached the road. Past studies have shown that pronghorn react to vehicles similarly as they do to predators. If they react to crossing structures this same way, the crossing structures could actually negatively impact population dynamics by creating unnecessary stress.
The study titled “Highways, crossing structures and risk: Behaviors of Greater Yellowstone pronghorn elucidate efficacy of road mitigation” appears in the most recent edition of the journal Global Ecology and Conservation. The authors are: Renee G. Seidler, formerly with WCS, now the state Transportation Specialist for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game; Jon P. Beckmann of WCS; and David S. Green of Oregon State University.
Read more at Wildlife Conservation Society
Image: This is a pronghorn buck. (Credit: Jeff Burrell)
