Rush hour on Utah’s I-80 wildlife overpass sometimes has animals eating each other

A Utah interstate overpass built specifically for wildlife is getting a lot of traffic, including travelers that are known to eat each other on occasion.

Cougars, bobcats and coyotes were recorded using the I-80 bridge in recent months, along with larger animals like bear and moose, according to a video posted Thursday on Facebook by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.

Among the mishaps shown in the video is a bobcat crossing the overpass with a fellow traveler between its jaws. The unlucky rodent was clearly moving too slowly in the travel lanes.

Still, wildlife advocates say the Parleys Canyon wildlife crossing is proving to be a major hit since opening in December 2018.

“It’s working!” the wildlife division wrote on Facebook. “As you can see, the second year of this overpass has been successful at helping wildlife safely migrate over busy Interstate 80 and helping motorists be much safer as well.”

The 330-foot-long span is “the first overpass in the state designed exclusively for wildlife,” according to the Utah Department of Transportation. It’s also 48 feet wide, which is enough space for rivals on the food chain to pass each other without coming to blows.

In some respects, the video is intended as a warning for humans to “stay away from the overpass,” state officials said. Hikers and mountain bikers were caught trespassing on the bridge earlier this year, and that scares off the wildlife it’s intended to draw, experts say. There’s also a possibility trespassers could find themselves boxed in with cougars or bears.

Wildlife overpasses and underpasses have been growing in popularity in the U.S. since a 2008 federal study cited them as a solution to the “estimated one to two million collisions between cars and large animals every year in the United States.”

“Roaring traffic doesn’t stop big mammals like moose and bears from crossing highways — nor does it keep myriad smaller creatures from being squished by car tires,” National Geographic reported in 2019. “In just two years along one stretch of highway in Utah, 98 deer, three moose, two elk, multiple raccoon, and a cougar were killed in car collisions.”

The world’s biggest wildlife overpass is expected to open next year over California’s 101 Freeway, near the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, according to CBSLA. The 165-foot-wide bridge will “span 210 feet over ten lanes of pavement” that is used by 300,00 vehicles a day, the National Wildlife Federation says.

This story was originally published November 20, 2020 at 3:18 PM with the headline "Rush hour on Utah’s I-80 wildlife overpass sometimes has animals eating each other."