14 DAY TRIAL // The Australian Pacific Highway has for some time been argued to disturb the demographics of the emu population in New South Wales, which is why high officials saw it fit to file a proposal asking that special underground passes are built for these animals.
Apparently, the decision to file this proposal comes as a result of efforts to protect local wildlife, seeing how the cars going back and forth on this road on a daily basis pose considerable threats to various animal species that can accidentally become injured while trying to get from one side to the other.
Although reptiles and koalas have already been taken into consideration, and special tunnels were provided for them, it seems that the country's emu population is only now getting the attention it deserves.
TNT informs us that high officials in New South Wales explained how the breeding and feeding areas for these birds are basically cut in half by said highway, and that these underground passes are needed so as to make sure that the emus can safely make it from one side to the other in order to find suitable mates and food.
According to the same source, Gary Whale, an environmental scientist working with the Birdlife Australia organization, wished to make it as clear as possible that, “They [emus] need a certain critical number to survive and if you cut them in half, and have half on either side of this new road, then it virtually guarantees their extinction.”
Still, one problem remains: emus might be the world's third largest birds, but their brain size hardly measures up to any expectations one could have after taking one quick glance at their impressive bodies.
To put it bluntly, as Gary Whales does, “Emus are big birds with little brains.”
Therefore, nobody can guarantee that these birds will ever become aware that these new tunnels built under the Australian Pacific Highway are there for their benefit, and because of this, they might never grow accustomed to using them.