Drone buzzes South America's first wildlife bridge



It looks like a bridge from a fantasy world. The grassy structure is a green overpass, the only one of its kind in Latin America, designed to connect wildlife populations and habitats that have been separated by a road. Built in 2010 in the Misiones province of Argentina, it is also meant to reduce roadkill.


Photographer Tomás Thibaud of the Drone Films Project filmed the structure to raise awareness of the need to protect wildlife. The overpass is an example of a wildlife corridor – a tunnel, bridge or other construction to mitigate the impact of human-made structures on nature.


Evidence seems to show that they help many species, from red squirrels to butterflies, to move freely between habitats that would otherwise be cut off. But there is also concern that the benefits of these green strips may be overstated.


In areas home to a large number of species, wildlife corridors are too narrow to help maintain population diversity. They also create a confined space that can be a hotbed for disease and a place for predators to trap prey.



Thibaud has filmed other obscure locations using drones. In a recent project, he captured stunning views of the drowned town of Epecuen in Argentina, flooded after a dam broke in 1985.


Recently the water level retreated significantly, exposing features such as the street layout, houses and rusted vehicles.


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