Unexpected Western Toadlet Migration on the Vancouver Island Inland Highway
In August 2007, the Vancouver Island Inland Highway was inundated with a “tsunami” of western toadlets near Pup Creek, north of Courtenay. During the environmental impact assessment process, before the highway was built, numerous toad crossing locations were identified and mitigated with fencing and tunnels. Unfortunately, the particular location where these toadlets were crossing, extending approximately two kilometres along the highway, had not been previously identified. Under the supervision of an amphibian expert who was working with the Ministry of Transportation, contractors, staff and volunteers quickly installed amphibian fencing to direct the toadlets into buckets which could be carried to the other side of the road. The migration continued for eight weeks and at its peak, it was estimated that 50,000 toadlets were trying to cross each day. The ministry replaced the existing median barriers with barriers that have openings at the bottom so that any toadlets that were making it past the fencing and onto the road still had a chance of get- ting across. One of the northbound lanes was also closed to traffic for the safety of the toadlets, as well as the safety of the people toting buckets across the road and the media that had arrived to document the scene. In the end, an estimated one million toadlets were carried across the road in buckets. Ministry environmental staff members are now trying to determine what mitigation measures should be put in place in case the migration in that location is a regular occurrence. They are also developing a wildlife migration response protocol in anticipation of future small wildlife migrations across provincial roads.
- Back to Roads – Pathways for Humans, Barriers for Functioning Ecosystems
- 2007/08 Annual Report Table of Contents
This is an article from the 2007/08 Annual Report to the Legislature from the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario. Click here for more information on the official document and its release.
