Road ecology blog: Wildlife underpasses, Nuevo Xcan-Playa Del Carmen highway, Quintana Roo, Mexico
This relatively new toll road has dozens of wildlife underpasses. There are two sizes which are shown in the images below. Each underpass is connected to wildlife fences but these are only a few hundred meters long at the most.
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Images below: The wildlife fences are well connected to the fence on the bridge. This leaves no gap for wildlife to access the highway.
Wildlife fence connects to fence on bridge, no gap, Nuevo Xcan-PWildlife fence connects to fence on bridge, no gap, Nuevo Xcan-Playa Del Carmen highway, Quintana Roo, Mexico Wildlife fence connects to fence on bridge, no gap, Nuevo Xcan-PWildlife fence connects to fence on bridge, no gap, Nuevo Xcan-Playa Del Carmen highway, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Image below: Here the fence became disconnected. My guess is that researchers filled the gap with rocks to keep animals from entering the roadway. While important, maintenance of wildlife fences seems to always be an issue.
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Image below: Wildlife camera inside an underpass. These cameras detect wildlife passing through and then take a series of images. This allows researchers to see what species are using the structures and in what numbers.
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Click here for images of wildlife fencing.
Click here for images of multifunctional underpasses.
Click here for images of wildlife underpasses.
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