Banff National Park of Canada

Park Management

Highway Fencing and Wildlife Crossings

10 quick facts about highway wildlife crossings in the park

1. In response to growing traffic volumes, collisions and wildlife roadkill, the 83 km section of Trans-Canada Highway in the park began to be upgraded from two lanes to a four lane divided highway in 1981.

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2. To date, there are 24 wildlife underpasses and four wildlife overpasses from Banff National Park’s east entrance to the British Columbia border, with more on the way.

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3. Highway fencing in Banff National Park has reduced wildlife-vehicle collisions by more than 80% and, for elk and deer alone by more than 96%.

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4. Wildlife crossings are designed to connect vital habitats and allow safe movement of animals across busy roads.

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5. There is no other location in the world with as many and different types of wildlife crossings as in Banff National Park. It also has the world’s longest, year round monitoring program and largest data set on wildlife use of highway crossings.

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6. As of July 2010, eleven species of large mammals have used 24 wildlife crossings more than 220,000 times since 1996. This includes grizzly and black bears, wolves, coyotes, cougars, moose, elk, deer, bighorn sheep, and more recently wolverine and lynx.

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7. There is a "learning curve" for animals to begin using wildlife crossings after construction. For wary animals like grizzly bears and wolves, it may take up to five years before they feel secure using newly built crossings. Elk were the first large species to use the crossings, even using some while they were under construction!

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8. Grizzly bears, wolves, elk, moose and deer prefer wildlife crossings that are high, wide and short in length, including overpasses. Black bears and cougars prefer long, low and narrow crossings.

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9. DNA research is now underway to identify individual animals using the crossings. DNA hair samples are collected using barbed wire strung across wildlife crossing structures. The data will reveal adult male and female movement across roads, as well as dispersal, survival and reproduction of young. This will answer "how" wildlife crossings help to sustain healthy wildlife populations into the future.

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10. In April 2010, a new research initiative was launched. The Wildlife and Transportation Monitoring and Research in the Rocky Mountain Parks Project will be monitoring wildlife mitigation measures in Banff National Park in order to assess the success of continued twinning of the Trans-Canada Highway.