Highways are an essential part of every city and town in the world in that they are part of the local infrastructure and for many people part of everyday life, for work and travel however they're not without their downsides and one of the biggest is that these roads often cut through animals habitats which for some can cause devastating effects not to mention a danger to both animal and human but luckily there is a solution that's becoming increasingly more common.

We often think of bridges as structures that are used but us humans to get from one place to another whilst crossing an obstacle such as a river however we're not the only ones that use bridges as animal crossings are becoming more common as a great way to keep animals and ecosystems safe.

It's estimated in the United States alone that one-fifth of its land area is effect by road systems in one way or another and that animal and vehicle collisions cost $8 billion a year. It's because of this that animal over or underpasses make perfect sense and Europe has been leading the way for years with France creating the first animal bridges in the 1950s.

Other countries including the United States have been using the overpasses in the past 30 years as a way of protecting wildlife particularly in the Banff National Park whilst on Christmas Island in Australia bridges ensure that more than 50 million red crabs can safely pass over a busy route to continue on their migration.

Scroll down to see some examples from around the world

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