威斯康星州的一条海龟隧道是如何拯救生命的

威斯康星州的一条海龟隧道是如何拯救生命的

There's a stretch of Wisconsin State Highway 66 right around where it crosses the Plover River that has a reputation as a danger zone for wildlife. When animals try to cross the road, many of them don't make it. In 2015 alone, 66 turtles were killed trying to cross the busy highway.

威斯康辛州66号高速公路的一段就在它穿过船河的地方，船河被认为是野生动物的危险区。当动物试图过马路时，它们中的许多都没能过去。仅2015年一年，就有66只海龟在试图穿越繁忙的高速公路时死亡。

A snapping turtle emerges from the north tunnel entrance. (Photo: Pete Zani/University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point)

So when the highway had to be resurfaced a few years back, the Wisconsin transportation and natural resources departments teamed up with the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point to come up with a solution. They decided to install low fencing along the roadside and build an underpass beneath it, giving wildlife — particularly turtles — safe passage.

因此，几年前，当这条高速公路不得不重新铺设路面时，威斯康辛州的交通和自然资源部门与威斯康辛大学史蒂文斯岬分校(University of Wisconsin- stevens Point)合作，提出了一个解决方案。他们决定在路边设置低矮的栅栏，并在下面建一个地下通道，让野生动物——尤其是海龟——安全通过。

Maybe because it was dark, some turtles weren't sure what to make of the underpass, so Zani came up with a few improvements to make it more appealing.

也许是因为天太黑了，一些海龟不知道该如何利用地下通道，所以扎尼想出了一些改进方案，使其更具吸引力。

"Post-installation improvements include a light-colored backdrop of sheet metal placed to reflect light into the tunnel as well as create a light-colored backdrop from the turtle-eye viewpoint," he says.

他说:“安装后的改进包括浅色的金属板背景，将光线反射到隧道中，并从海龟眼的角度创建浅色背景。”

Light at the end of the tunnel

光明在隧道的尽头

Flashing at the tunnel entrance helps turtles see that this isn't simply a dark hole to nowhere. (Photo: Pete Zani/University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point)

The shiny flashing at the ends of the tunnel reflect light and show the sky, so the turtles know they have a path to cross the highway. Zani and his team literally created light at the end of the tunnel.

隧道尽头闪闪发光的闪光反射光线，显示出天空，所以海龟们知道他们有一条路可以穿过高速公路。扎尼和他的团队在隧道的尽头创造了光。

They also placed some grates over the tunnel to lighten the passageway, and they created one-way slippery slides, called excluders, from the roadway down to safety for small animals like toads that sometimes get trapped along the fencing and don't know how to get free.

他们还在隧道上安装了一些格栅，以减轻通道的压力。他们还制造了一种单向滑梯，称为排他滑梯，从路面滑到安全地带，供蟾蜍等小动物使用。

Not perfect, but better

不完美，但比以前更好

The changes seemed to have helped.

这些变化似乎有所帮助。

"The light backdrop appears to have enticed turtles to take the plunge into the tunnel," Zani says. "The passage rate is still not perfect, but better. The excluders seem to allow wildlife to escape from the roadway so fewer animals are trapped in unsuitable locations."

“明亮的背景似乎吸引了海龟们跳进隧道，”扎尼说。“通过率还不完美，但已经有所改善。这些排他者似乎允许野生动物从道路上逃跑，因此更少的动物被困在不合适的地方。”

Since the tunnel was built in 2016, only about 40 turtles have been killed on that once-precarious stretch of road. That's a significant drop from that high of 66 in just one year.

自2016年隧道建成以来，在这段曾经危险的道路上，只有大约40只海龟被杀死。这是一年内从66的高点显著下降。

Zani had a few other ideas that might have lowered those numbers even further for traveling turtles, but they just weren't feasible.

扎尼还有其他一些想法，可能会进一步降低海龟的数量，但这些想法都不可行。

"We considered enlarging the tunnel or installing lights, both of which would help," he says. "but both ideas were rejected due to site logistics as well as potential expense related to upkeep."

他说:“我们考虑过扩大隧道或安装灯光，这两种方法都有帮助。”“但这两种想法都被否决了，原因是场地物流以及与维护相关的潜在费用。”