Game bridges, or fauna passages as they are also called, have become a success in Sweden. The initiative is not only a way to protect wild animals, but also an effective solution to reduce the number of wildlife accidents.
– The societal costs of animal collisions are up to 15 billion per year, so it is clear that if you get good crossings, you will save society a lot of costs, says Torbjörn Nilsson, environmental specialist at the Swedish Transport Administration Nord.
When the TV4 News team visited a fauna passage at the E4 in Robertsfors, Västerbotten, they saw an exciting result. The bridge, which had been in operation for about a year, had recently been visited by a lynx. This is a rare sight, but it is also clear evidence that the animals find and dare to use the transitions.
– We’ve never caught a lynx on our game cameras before, so it’s really cool, says Torbjörn Nilsson.
Increased activity on the game passages
It is not only lynx that use these bridges. At the fauna crossing at the E22 Brömsebro, over 10,000 animal incidents have been registered in just one year. It shows that the bridges really fulfill their function and are used extensively by various animal species. However, the bridges are not built at random. They are strategically placed based on studies of the animals’ natural movement patterns, which increases their effectiveness.
– Then it is important to follow up for a few years so that we see that the animals really find their way here, Torbjörn Nilsson continues.
An expensive but sustainable solution
Building a fauna passage is a long-term investment. A larger passage should be placed 4–6 kilometers apart and is expected to last up to 120 years. However, the price tag is high – an individual bridge costs between SEK 30 and 50 million.
However, the Swedish Transport Administration believes that these investments are well justified in view of the reduced risk of wildlife accidents and the positive effect on animal life.