A multi-year study called Linking Landscapes is underway through the Jim Prentice Wildlife Corridor in the southwestern part of the province.

Carys Richards with the Nature Conservancy of Canada says they've set up cameras to track wildlife through the area in an effort to improve safety for the animals and drivers on Highway 3.

So far the results have been pretty impressive.

"We have male elk sparring with their antlers clashing right in front of the cameras. We've got grizzlies dragging kills through these areas. There's more cougars than I thought I would see on a camera. That was particularly exciting for me," she says.

"We've got faxes and bighorn sheep and deer, all the species that you would think of that live in the mountains, they're here. We share these spaces with them."

A moose was captured by the camera earlier this year. (Photo NCC)

The Nature Conservancy of Canada, the Miistakis Institute, and the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute are partnering on the project to monitor wildlife movement across the highway.

The data gathered will be used to inform future wildlife management strategies and reduce the number of animal and vehicle collisions.

A cougar was spotted going through the area at night. (Photo NCC)

"We're going to keep monitoring the cameras for a couple of years, make sure we've got really good data to go off of. This is a pretty exciting project, and we've got a lot of partners involved, and everybody's really committed to making this a safer area," Richards says.

With the Labour Day long weekend coming up, Richards hopes drivers and animals will be safe.

 

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