Banff National Park Bears Use Highway Crossings to Find Mates

Recent studies have found that bears in the Canadian Banff National Park frequently use highway crossings in search of prospective mates. The crossings were originally put in place to allow wildlife to continue travelling in the forest around the fenced highways and reduce the number of wildlife-vehicles collisions.

Banff has a total of 44 highway crossings, consisting of 38 underpasses and six overpasses and since their construction, Parks Canada has found that wildlife-vehicle collisions in Banff National Park were reduced by 80 percent. The Wildlife Collision Prevention Program estimates that in Canada, there are four to eight large animal vehicle collisions every hour. Large animals consist of moose, elk, wolves, lynxes, cougars, deer and coyotes. When collisions between these animals and vehicles occur, it can sometimes be fatal for all parties involved.

Source: Here