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Animal crossings: Researchers are thrilled. Camera traps show that even narrow overpasses on wide highways where animals can cross without risking their lives from passing traffic have been widely adopted by animals. There are more than a thousand dedicated animal crossings in the United States, most of them tunnels or underpasses. The annual U.S. cost of wildlife/vehicle collisions runs $8 billion a year, the New York Times reports. Some 200 U.S. motorists die each year in such collisions, which threaten the very survival of 21 threatened and endangered species, including Key deer in Florida, bighorn sheep in California, and red-bellied turtles in Alabama, Nat Geo reported in 2019
Don’t do this at home: When a roaming bear grabbed her pet dog in her backyard, 17-year-old Hailey Morinico reacted instinctively. She ran at the bear and pushed it away. "The dog that the bear grabbed, she's the baby. I have to protect the baby,” the California teen said. She sprained her finger in the struggle, which was captured by home security video, Sky News reports. See it.
Kenya’s ambitious census count: Kenya’s billion-dollar tourism industry came to a standstill during the pandemic, losing 80 percent of revenue. The blow has motivated conservationists to take on an ambitious task: counting every single animal, on land and in the sea, across all 58 national parks. For this first-ever count, researchers are using aircraft, GPS trackers, camera traps, and boots on the ground to try to document and protect the more than 1,000 species that are native to the country, CNN reports.
Make way for ducklings: When four ducklings fell through a grate while crossing a Seattle street on Wednesday, traffic ground to a halt—and drivers tried to help. Then a firetruck passed by, and an unusual rescue took place, the Seattle Times reports. See the photos.
Notorious tiger poacher arrested. Finally. After 20 years, Bangladeshi police have arrested a notorious poacher suspected of killing about 70 endangered Bengal tigers, the Guardian reports. Police say the man lived near the forest and would flee anytime they closed in. “He was a big headache for us. He posed a great threat to the forest’s biodiversity,” a conservation officer says.
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