Canopy bridges stop roadkill in Brazilian Amazon forests
Canopy bridges installed in a small Amazon town have successfully prevented roadkill for arboreal animals crossing dangerous highways.
A biologist found a dead buffy-headed marmoset on a highway in the Atlantic Forest region of Brazil. This critically endangered primate species has only about two thousand five hundred individuals remaining in the wild today.
About eighteen hundred miles away, a different approach has stopped wildlife deaths since twenty twenty four. Eight canopy bridges were installed there to connect fragmented forest patches and allow safe passage for animals.
Over fifteen months, camera traps recorded fifteen thousand safe crossings by arboreal creatures using these new aerial wildlife crossings. During that entire period, there was not a single recorded case of roadkill among the animals.
The project involves local organizations and government groups who want to conserve unique biodiversity while promoting ecotourism in their area. These bridges improve connectivity for wildlife and significantly reduce the number of animals killed by vehicles on roads.