Crossings review: Ben Goldfarb explains how we can help wildlife live with motorways

Crossings
Ben Goldfarb (W. W. Norton)

ANYONE who has ever crossed a busy road in a metropolis without well-regulated traffic – say, Mumbai, India – will understand the plight of a deer trying to cross a rural highway in the US. Evolution hasn’t prepared deer for encounters with cars or trucks.

In the US alone, over a million crashes between vehicles and large mammals occur each year, with wildlife often ending up as roadkill. Roads and fast-moving vehicles give humans mobility. But …