Did you know that there are five wildlife underpasses that traverse Tangerine Road? These wildlife underpasses were finished in 2018 and the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AGFD) is now in the middle of a post-construction monitoring study of the crossings. In May 2020, AGFD released its latest monitoring progress report. We’re happy to report there were some very encouraging data and findings!
According to the AGFD report:
Data has been analyzed to April 7th, 2020. A combined total of 5,996 crossings by 23 wildlife species have been recorded across all 5 structures. Coyote, javelina, gambel’s quail, and bobcat constitute the most commonly recorded species with 3,002, 1,695, 482, and 403 crossings respectively, representing 93% of all documented crossings. Crossings of note include a gila monster at one underpass in April 2019, and a mountain lion at a different underpass in June 2019.
A total of 40 species have been detected across the five structures to date. The greatest diversity has been observed at underpass #2 where 29 species have been recorded. 16 species have been detected at underpass #1, which is the smallest monitored structure.
[Note: a species is “detected” when it is observed near the crossing structure. This is a different data point than documenting that a species successfully crossed through the structure.]
The full AGFD monitoring report can be found HERE.
An impressive deer checks out one of the Tangerine Road wildlife underpasses. Photo courtesy Arizona Game and Fish Department.
It looks like this coyote just emerged from safely crossing under Tangerine Road using one of five wildlife underpasses. Photo courtesy Arizona Game and Fish Department.
Location map of five wildlife underpasses along Tangerine Road. Map courtesy Arizona Game and Fish Department.
Tags: community, Regional Transportation Authority, RTA, Tangerine Road, wildlife cameras, wildlife crossings, wildlife linkages