CHEYENNE — Nearly 6,000 big game animals like deer, pronghorn, elk, moose, bighorn sheep and mountain goats die each year from collisions with vehicles on Wyoming’s highways and interstates. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department along with the Wyoming Department of Transportation is hoping to change those statistics with the launch of a new initiative, Wildlife Crossing, to keep wildlife and drivers on the go. The new initiative focuses on raising funding and awareness for reducing wildlife-vehicle collisions.

“Our vision for all wildlife crossing projects is to ensure wildlife are able to easily and safely cross highways in order to access important seasonal habitats,” said Brian Nesvik, Game and Fish director. “We’re partnering with the Wyoming Department of Transportation to reduce collisions and design roads with wildlife in mind.”

Wildlife Crossing comes on the heels of Gov. Mark Gordon’s Executive Order, ‘Protection of Migration Corridors’ that was signed today.

“We’ve already seen major accomplishments with the work that’s been done so far with wildlife-vehicle collision mitigation but we still have more to do,” said Director of WYDOT K. Luke Reiner. “Our mission is to help keep the traveling public safe and our partnership with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department is one way we can do that.”

For more information on Wildlife Crossing and how the public can support wildlife visit: https://wgfd.wyo.gov/wildlifecrossing.