France is building overpasses to reduce roadkill

Motorists heading from Paris to the Mediterranean on the autoroute du soleil this summer may be surprised by the proliferation of bridge-building over France’s main north-south artery. The intended beneficiaries are more unexpected still: hedgehogs, badgers, wild boar, weasels, deer and other furry, spiky or slimy things. Between 2021 and 2023, 19 new écoponts, or wildlife bridges, will be built over the a6 and other motorways operated by aprr, a private firm, at a total cost of over €80m ($86m). This will bring its network of green bridges in France to 119.