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What are wildlife corridors?
Wildlife corridors are strips of continuous habitats that connect isolated patches of forest, so that animals can move freely from one wilderness area to another. Wildlife corridors bridge the gap created by development projects, roads, agriculture and urbanisation.
Why do animals need wildlife corridors?
Animals need wildlife corridors to migrate across habitats in different seasons, reach richer food resources, breed across landscapes to maintain genetic diversity, which strengthens populations.
What happens if there is no wildlife corridor?
Without a wildlife corridor, animals are forced to cross highways and human settlements to travel. This often leds them ending up as roadkill or in the middle of conflict situations. About 3,500 animal deaths were recorded in 2018 by just one crowdsourced 'Roadkills' app; since many deaths are not reported, actual numbers are probably higher. Between 2010 and 2018, about 761 people and 249 elephants lost their lives in human-elephant conflicts in Assam.
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