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You can make a difference in your community. We can help!Watch Out for Wildlife Awareness Week
September 12, 2010- September 18, 2010
Nationwide
Every year Defenders of Wildlife organizes and promotes Watch Out for Wildlife Awareness Week, a week designated to raise public awareness of the serious obstacles facing the nation's wildlife due to its transportation infrastructure – both by roadway deaths and through habitat fragmentation.
Transportation infrastructure, though vital, cuts through the habitat of wildlife populations and creates the danger of wildlife-vehicle collisions. Each year in the US more than 200 people are killed in collisions with deer, elk and other wildlife; more than 1.5 million animals are estimated to be hit on roads; and the cost of property damage caused by collisions surpasses $1 billion. For some wild populations, roadkill added to other threats such as habitat loss, fragmentation, climate change and invasive species, is severely reducing their viability.
The main goal of Watch Out for Wildlife Awareness Week is to reduce risks of collision for the benefit of people and wildlife.
There are several things that you can do in your community and as an individual to help prevent future wildlife-vehicle collisions. Please visit our Watch Out for Wildlife website, which features tips for drivers, contact information in the case of a wildlife-vehicle collision, fact sheets, multimedia presentations, and materials for kids and teachers.
This awareness week and associated activities directly support the work of the Habitat and Highways Campaign. Roadkill has pushed some rare species, such as the panther and grizzly bear, closer to extinction. Defenders supports efforts to make roads less dangerous to wildlife, and the Habitat and Highways Campaign is working with federal, state, and local agencies, as well as other non-profit organizations, to plan for the growth of communities in order to avoid or minimize the harm from future roads on wildlife and habitat.
