Colorado Opens America's Largest Wildlife Bridge

Colorado Department of Transportation

Colorado has just opened the United States' largest wildlife bridge, providing a critical route for deer, pronghorn, mountain lions and more to access 39,000 acres of connected habitat along I-25 south of Denver.

The bridge, which stands 209' by 200', addressed a critical gap along I-25, which utilizes underpasses and wildlife fencing in other areas to reduce wildlife-traffic collisions.

Hopefully, this bridge will serve as a model for other roadways to use in order to keep animals and motorists safe, as well as mitigate the harmful effect of habitat fragmentation.

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A Saber-Toothed Deer?

The vampire deer might sound like a low-budget horror movie, and in truth, it is more of a dramatic nickname. But in China, Korea, and Russia, there really are deer with long fangs, capable of dealing damage.

Males of both musk deer and water deer grown long canines during autumn, resulting in their fearsome nickname.

But although they certainly bear some resemblance to the fangs of saber-tooth cats, or fairy tale villains, these tusked deer are herbivorous just like all deer. Their tusks are used only against rival males in territorial fights.

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Saving One of the World's Most Endangered Marsupials

You might have seen wombats in a nature documentary, or maybe even in person at a zoo. But it is very unlikely that you have ever seen, or maybe even heard of the Northern Hairy-Nosed Wombat. That's because there are only about 400 of these stocky marsupials remaining.

One of the amazing organizations that has helped to bring back these critically endangered is The Wombat Foundation. For the last two decades, The Wombat Foundation has contributed to the Northern Hairy-Nosed Wombats return from the brink of extinction. At one point, there were only about 25 remaining, and although there is still so much work to do, hope remains that Northern Hairy Nosed Wombat populations are heading towards recovery.