North Carolina's endangered red wolves will soon have a safer way to cross a dangerous stretch of highway in eastern North Carolina.
State transportation officials plan to build several underpasses beneath a stretch of U.S. 64 that runs through the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in Dare County.
The project will be funded by a $25 million grant from the Federal Highway Administration. The agency announced the grant on Friday. In addition, Wildlands Network and the Center for Biological Diversity raised $4 million in private funds to support the project.
In a news release, Ron Sutherland, chief scientist of Wildlands Network, said there were only 17 to 19 red wolves left in the wild — all in North Carolina — and their number one cause of death has been car collisions.
Sutherland said the underpass could also benefit black bears living in the area.