Elk on Canadian highway

[snopes]

This is the actual turnoff from Banff to the # 1 highway to Calgary.

Great picture isn't it? They had to build the animals (especially the elk) their own crossing because that was where the natural crossing was and after the highway was built there were far too many accidents. I understand it didn't take the animals long to learn that this was their "road."

[JoeBentley]

The Trans-Canada Highway near Banff has million-dollar overpasses just for wildlife

Banff, Alberta - Head west on the Trans-Canada Highway from the town of Banff and before you reach Lake Louise you’ll drive under two unusual tree-covered overpasses. They are 50 metres wide, cost over a million dollars each, and are here solely for use by the park’s wildlife. Overpasses, a 2.4-metre tall highway fence and 21 underpasses have reduced wildlife road kill and collisions by more than 80 per cent. The overpasses are designed so animals cannot see the highway when crossing. Elk, moose, wolves, deer and grizzly bear tend to use the overpasses. Cougars and black bears like the underground passages. Banff National Park, which covers 6,661 square kilometers of mountains, glaciers, meadows, rivers and hotsprings, receives 4.7 million visitors per year. When established in 1885, it was the world’s third National Park. Photo by Lucy Izon.

[Joostik]

Are they that unusual in North America? We have quite a number of those crossings in Holland, usually considerably wider. Only difference is that wildlife usually passes at night and you rarely see it because they are shielded from view as much as possible.

A list of Ecoducts in the Netherlands

Among them the largest Ecoduct in the world at Crailoo

Another one they recently built near Utrecht

Are they that unusual in North America? We have quite a number of those crossings in Holland, usually considerably wider. Only difference is that wildlife usually passes at night and you rarely see it because they are shielded from view as much as possible.

The crossings are new to Canada in the last 15 or so years. The animals cross at all times of the day, depending if they are nocturnal or diurnal. As in the article quoted previously, the animals use whichever crossing they are comfortable with. However, they can see (as evidenced by the photo) the highway when crossing. The elk werer constantly being killed by vehicles going through Banff, as well as many other animals, because the Trans Canada highway goes right through the park. Due to the high fatalities, both animal and human, they built overhead crossings. However, contrary to the post, it took a long time for the animals to learn it was their crossing, many of them still jumping the fences to cross at ground level. My understanding is it took them a long time to realize the vehicles passing underneath would not hit them. They're much better at it, now, as it's a learned behaviour.

I discovered this just yesterday after receiving the photo and information in an email and wondering if it were authentic. Having just been in Banff, I don't remember seeing the wildlife bridge. Sure enough, looking more closely, I realized the bridge pictured is for the Canadian Pacific railroad track. The "tunnel" bridges built for wildlife are considerably different in apperance, and the closest ones are several miles north toward Lake Louise.

Whether the elk really were on the railroad bridge, I wonder. Maybe in fact they did put their ears to the rail to see if a train was coming, then crossed when it was safe.

Originally Posted by snopes

This is the actual turnoff from Banff to the # 1 highway to Calgary.

Great picture isn't it? They had to build the animals (especially the elk) their own crossing because that was where the natural crossing was and after the highway was built there were far too many accidents. I understand it didn't take the animals long to learn that this was their "road."

[llewtrah]

We have some underpasses built for our much smaller wildlife (badgers, hedgehogs etc) and a few overpasses for farm livestock. Sometimes you see cows crossing a bridge

BUSTED!
Not sure if the photo was edited or not, but the bridge is definately not for elk or other animals. If photo is edited, they did a great job.
Checked the area on Google Earth, and found the intersection in the photo. The bridge that the elk are on, is a railroad bridge.
On Google Earth go to 51 12'20.03" N 115 32'12.38" W. (copy and paste these coordinates)
Also there IS an animal brigde a few miles from intersection at 51 09'39.94" N 115 42'51.56" W.