To address the problem of wildlife-car collisions in the Wildcat Hills area, the Nebraska Department of Transportation and the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission ( NGPC ) have received a$ 400, 000 federal grant. The money are being used to evaluate the viability of setting up bridges for bighorn sheep and other animals like deer, moose, and yet a wayward bear that have collided with automobiles along this stretch.
The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission’s Big Game Research and Disease Program Manager, Todd Nordeen, claimed that the area’s natural characteristics in relation to the bridge cause bighorns. The creek sheep frequently cross the bridge because of the area’s landscape. The Wildlife Estates housing complex is close to the worst location, and with extended growth along this corridor, there is a higher risk of moose mortalities.
The Wild Sheep Foundation ( WSF ) wrote a letter of support for the project to highlight the importance of this small but vital herd on the eastern edge of their range and the need to better understand the roadkill issue in Nebraska.
” We appreciate WSF support for this and other creek jobs here in Nebraska. It has proven vital to our work to sustain Nebraska’s exotic sheep”, Nordeen said.
Approximately ten fresh television tracking collar will be purchased, according to NGPC officials, who will use a percentage of the grant to do so. This information will help determine the likelihood of a animals passing to join their environments in addition to the three already-equipped bighorn sheep in the area. The study’s conclusion is in 2024, and it will look at the estimated cost of building flyover or underpasses for animals crossings.
The national Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program, which was established as a result of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, provided cash for this study program. This program provides$ 350 million over five years, bolstering projects that establish wildlife crossings, and aligns with the U. S. Department of Transportation’s National Roadway Safety Strategy.
Greg Schildwachter, a WSF lawyer, said animals incidents are an issue getting provincial notice, and this could have a significant positive impact on bighorn sheep. Wildlife bridges are a relatively new and potent way to deal with them, according to the national government, and there is a lot of attention paid to them. We are keeping an eye out as jobs like this one in Nebraska develop, he said. We are aware of the numerous areas where this is a major issue for bighorns.
Bighorn-car collisions are a problem in many of the locations of their collection. In some localities, a study from the Arizona Fish & Game Department that wascited in Human & Wildlife Interactions found that vehicular-related mortalities are a major cause of animals mortality. According to Cunningham and Devos, “50 percent of fatalities in the Black Mountains of northern Arizona were brought on by car collisions.”
A document in Saanich News said a stretch of highway in Radium Hot Springs, BC, has seen an uptick in creek deaths over the last decade, with 15 reported in 2021. That’s 15 out of a nearby cattle of around 150.
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