New Animal Overpass Is Already Protecting Critters in Washington State

In Washington State, wildlife overpasses and tunnels across I-90 are going a long way to reduce traffic collisions with animals. Even before its completion, coyotes and other animals are using one overpass to cross safely. These corridors have broad support across the country, though such projects can be expensive.

In North Carolina, a group of planners and conservationists are working to install wildlife corridors along a stretch of I-40, allowing animals like elk and bears to cross safely. The plan has myriad benefits: stopping fatalities, reducing traffic accidents, and improving wildlife habitat. Climate change only makes such corridors more crucial, because wildlife will be increasingly on the move.

Over 55,000 people have become “virtual rangers,” helping to protect South Africa’s Balule Nature Reserve from poachers. Officials at the reserve teamed up with Samsung and Africam to increase the ability to keep watch over the park, which is home to some of the most vulnerable animals to poaching, including rhinoceros, leopards, and elephants. Camera phones, held in protective cases, are mounted around the reserve and stream images to “virtual rangers” worldwide who have already reported hearing gunshots, which could indicate the possibility of poachers, and seeing trapped animals needing rescue.

The Black Mambas are an all-female anti-poaching and ranger unit based in South Africa’s Balule Nature Reserve. They patrol on foot and by vehicle to remove bushmeat snares and look for evidence of illegal poaching activities. They also run the Bush Babies Environmental Education Programme, which teaches local school children about wildlife and conservation. The group combines anti-poaching enforcement with efforts to ensure local communities have food security and understand the economic and employment benefits of tourism as a way to protect wildlife. The Mambas are seen as role models within the community.

Apis Arborea, a bee rewilding organization, seeks to educate the public on how to sustainably and responsibly rehabilitate and save the world’s bee population. Headed by Michael Joshin Thiele, the organization is helping commercial and urban beekeepers do so in a way that mimics their natural habitats. Practices like keeping hives 20 feet above the ground, handling them without protective gear, and making sure they have space will help improve the bees’ lives.

What was once the garbage dump of a clothing company in Sri Lanka is now the site of an urban butterfly garden. Dilmah Conservation and naturalist Rajika Gamage created the open air garden in 2011 to conserve endangered butterflies without actually keeping any species in captivity. Over 90 native plants were planted, and the garden now receives visits from over 50 different butterfly species. The sanctuary also serves as an educational resource to help stress the importance of the diversity of these insects as an indicator of the health of the habitat.

In Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, where 54 percent of the world's mountain gorillas reside, NGOs and locals are combining efforts to stem human-gorilla conflict. By funneling tourism dollars into community development projects, conflict resolution, and disease control, conservation goals and development goals are starting to align.

Africa's wildlife have made headlines time and time again, as species find their way closer to extinction. There are some pockets of the continent, however that have provide refuge for species and allowed them to not just populate, but thrive. Recognizing this, a group known as African Parks found a way to use these growing populations to repopulate other areas of the continent by transporting animals to newly protected areas.

Sometimes there's an equal amount to learn about failed solutions as there is about solutions that are working. In an attempt to save the lesser prairie-chickens that live in the American Great Plains from extinction, the Fish and Wildlife Service is faced with a decision to weigh the potential of altering the way the Endangered Species Act works. Trying to appease both businesses and conservationists, however, has its drawbacks which has lead to a series of workarounds implemented that have worked on various levels.

Dogs have been known to be used for hunting for many years and often still are today, but not in Tanzania where dogs are now being used to stop hunting. If an effort to combat poaching and other unlawful acts, tracker dog units are quickly becoming an essential and widespread tool in Africa’s conservation efforts.