In Slovakia few eco-ducts, car hits a bear on the D1 highway – GOOD MORNING SLOVAKIA

41% of the Slovakian territory is covered by forests, a higher share than the average of the European Union, which stops at 35%. This implies the presence of significant biodiversity and a large population of wildlife. Unfortunately, the country is not sufficiently equipped with so-called green bridges, known as ecoducts, or raised passages between the two banks of the main road arteries, in particular the motorways, to allow the passage of small and large animals to move.

The issue became topical again when yesterday on the D1 highway in the Liptov region a car hit a 65-kilogram bear. The animal was seriously injured, and the traffic police contacted the emergency team of the State Authority for the Protection of Nature (ŠOP SR) to put it down. The four-year-old bear was then handed over to the local hunting association.

In recent years, a significant increase in mortality from the trafficking of wild animals has been recorded in Slovakia, which endanger the lives of passengers of cars and other circulating vehicles. On the other hand, the increasing frequency of traffic greatly complicates the natural migration of animals, and many natural paths of bears and other animals have been interrupted by the construction of highways and expressways.

If highway fences prevent the passage of smaller animals, they can do little against a bear that is hunting for food. The solution, underlines ŠOP SR, would be to complete the construction of a national network of eco-ducts, of which up to now there are only 3 in Slovakia. Actually already in 2018 the Ministry of the Environment had urged the accompaniment of new large transport infrastructures, such as highways or railways, by a sufficient number of green bridges. “Slovakia is rich in biotopes and precious natural and faunal areas, and these cannot simply be cut in two by a road or a railway”, the then minister remarked. Since then, however, little or nothing has changed, even though the ministry started a review of the lack of green bridges for animals in Slovakia a few months ago. In neighboring countries, such as Austria for example, there are a large number of eco-ducts, which is not only a manifestation of sensitivity towards nature but also a significant increase in people’s safety on the roads.

(Red)

Photo yellowstonenps/CC0
Benjamin P. Y-H. Lee cc by

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