Posted on 09/18/2013 10:03:47 AM PDT by Olog-hai
Germany is living up to its environmentally-friendly image by spending millions of euros on building bridges just for animals. Humans caught crossing them face a €35 fine. More than a hundred wildlife bridges are to be built in the next decade.
Gerhard Klesen, a forester employed by the Ruhr Regional Association, spent a decade campaigning for an animal-only bridge to be built over a motorway in the town of Schermbeck in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Man-made barriers such as roads and canals restrict animals’ natural movement, he said. That limits genetic diversity, which in turn leads to an increase in disease and shortened lifespans. The “Green Bridges” are designed to counteract this effect. …
(Excerpt) Read more at thelocal.de ...
Animals on a high speed road are a hazard to themselves. You want the government to protect them?
If I were addressing the other comments to someone else, then perhaps you are on the wrong board?
Animals on the road are a threat to safety.
We already spend all kinds of money on road safety.
Ergo, IN CERTAIN CASES it makes sense to consider making places for animals to cross.
Thats my argument, and final comment on this thread.
These hazards you describe have existed even before automobiles, motorcycles and highways. Yet both mankind and wildlife continue to persevere. Should the government pay for wildlife separation (assuming the wildlife stays off the highway), or should the public sector be allowed to tackle it?
BTW, herds of cattle can derail trains if they wander onto an active railroad track, especially if the locomotive is as light as ten tons; most freight locomotives these days weigh about 200-220 tons, and most passenger locomotives around 144 tons.
Government precedent equals justification for more government spending is a logical fallacy. As is name-calling.
Anything can be deemed “a threat to safety”. Animals have been there before the road was, remember. Living in an area surrounded by game lands in which white-tailed deer and bears are fruitful and multiply (as have interstate highways as well as several high-speed rural highways), I find that vigilance and the staccato horn signal serve me to the end of keeping wildlife away from my vehicle and the vehicles of others.
I am serious.
I was just guessing on the tonnage of a locomotive.
I know I said I was outta here, but I have to add - it could be underpasses, as well. In some cases just a 3 or 4 foot diameter piece of galvanized sewer pipe would probably suffice. Far cheaper.
That sounds far more feasible.
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