Effective Wildlife Fences Through Better Functioning Barriers at Access Roads and Jumpouts
Started: October, 2020 End Date: December, 2022 Project ID #4W8863 Status: Ongoing
Objective
Abstract
Electrified barriers have been implemented at high-volume access roads and at fence ends of high-volume highways in the United States and other countries. However, electrified wildlife guards or electrified mats or electrified metal strips embedded in the main travel lanes and at high-volume side roads can cost tens of thousands up to hundreds of thousands of dollars per location. In practice, many access points along a fenced highway in a multi-functional landscape have very low traffic volume and very low traffic speed (e.g. access to an agricultural field). Relatively inexpensive electrified barriers (e.g. up to several thousands of dollars per location) may be suitable for such low traffic volume and low traffic speed access roads. Of course, these low lost barriers must still be effective in keeping large mammals, including bear species, out of the fenced road corridor. This research project focusses on electrified barriers that are relatively low cost and that appear suited for low traffic volume and low traffic speed locations.
The results of this project will provide information on how keep wildlife out of fenced road corridors through electrified barriers at access roads, and on how to improve deer use of wildlife jump-outs, should they still end up in between the fences.
Contacts
-
Marcel Huijser - PI
Sponsors & Partners
- Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) Sponsor
Related Information
Part of: Road Ecology, Wildlife
Project Tagged In: wildlife vehicle collisions, wildlife fencing
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