Bridging a forest: Animal crossings that reduce the perils of roads

By raising the road on columns, a wildlife crossing is maintained beneath this viaduct at the Aring-Tasik Kenyir road in Terengganu. - Kevin Tan/The Star

When wilderness is sliced apart by a road coursing through it, eco-friendly engineering is needed.

For people, roads connect. They create linkages and bring people places, even to remote corners of the world. For wildlife, on the other hand, roads do just the opposite. They create barriers which cut animals off from a larger landscape. They keep animals away from food and potential mates, and are also deadly to cross. Despite all these threats to wildlife, roads that cut into wild habitats continue to be built, in the name of development and to shorten travel time.