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Calgary Herald

Cameras, satellite collars helping to track wildlife movement in Highway 3 corridor

As part of efforts to reduce vehicle-animal collisions along an increasingly busy Highway 3 in southwest Alberta, motion-sensitive cameras have been installed and some wildlife have been fitted with satellite collars to study their movement. Article content So far, about 80 motion-sensitive cameras have been set up, and 20 elk, nine mule deer, and eight grizzly bears are now wearing satellite collars. Article content Article content Article content The multi-year Reconnecting the Rockies Alberta research project will shed light on wildlife movement along a 56-kilomere stretch of the Highway 3 transportation corridor in the Crowsnest Pass. Article content Article content A group of researchers and organizations, including Alberta Environment and Protected Areas, Biodiversity Pathways, Miistakis Institute, Nature Conservancy of Canada, University of British Columbia Okanagan and Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative, is working together on the project. Article content The data gathered will help inform Alberta Transportation and Economic Corridors plans to install wildlife crossings, which include overpasses and underpasses, along the provincial highway. The work also involves adding wildlife exclusion fencing. The province says mitigation projects on provincial highways — in place along Highway 1 for years — can help reduce animal-vehicle collisions by 80 per cent. Between 2015 and 2020, animal-vehicle collisions accounted for roughly 60 per cent of reported collisions on rural highways. Article content Article content Emilie Brien, the Nature Conservancy of Canada's natural area manager for the Castle-Crowsnest Watershed, said many animals cross Highway 3 and the chances of them getting hit is climbing as the section of the provincial highway in southwest Alberta gets busier. Article content Alberta government data from 2015 to 2024 shows an increasing volume of traffic along Highway 3 in the Crowsnest Pass over the past 10 years. Article content 'We've kind of reached the point where, so many animals, so many cars, of course you're going to have collisions,' said Brien, who's based in the Crowsnest Pass community of Coleman, about 160 kilometres southwest of Calgary. Article content Along Highway 1, the crossings have made a 'massive' difference, drastically reducing animal-vehicle collisions, said Brien. All species — including deer, elk, wolves and foxes — use the crossings, but some take up to three years to get used to them, she said.