Czech town builds unique bridge for squirrels
PRAGUE (AFP) - A Czech town has built a 1,500-euro (1,880 dollar) bridge to protect a handful of squirrels from a busy road, but do not know if they will use it, the town's mayor said.
The seven-metre (23-foot) high cable bridge, attached to two trees, spans a road that divides a large park in Sokolov in the west of the country near the German border.
"We think this construction is unique in the world. I myself witnessed two dead squirrels on the road in the space of two months and I felt we had to do something," Sokolov mayor Karel Jakobec told AFP.
At the moment the park is home to just three squirrels.
"The idea is that instead of going down trees and crossing the road to get to the other side of the park the squirrels will go up and across. But we don't know yet if it will work," he added.
The town is spending a total of 290,000 koruna (9,920 euros), most of it donated, on the park including a row of trees and shrubs along the road.
"We have already arranged for two more pairs of squirrels to be brought from an animal rescue centre and we are hoping that the squirrel population in the park will now grow," added Jakobec.
Squirrels are a protected species in the Czech Republic.
"Some people in the town think this is nonsense and we should be spending money on people rather than squirrels ... but it's not," insisted the mayor.
PRAGUE (AFP) - A Czech town has built a 1,500-euro (1,880 dollar) bridge to protect a handful of squirrels from a busy road, but do not know if they will use it, the town's mayor said.
The seven-metre (23-foot) high cable bridge, attached to two trees, spans a road that divides a large park in Sokolov in the west of the country near the German border.
"We think this construction is unique in the world. I myself witnessed two dead squirrels on the road in the space of two months and I felt we had to do something," Sokolov mayor Karel Jakobec told AFP.
At the moment the park is home to just three squirrels.
"The idea is that instead of going down trees and crossing the road to get to the other side of the park the squirrels will go up and across. But we don't know yet if it will work," he added.
The town is spending a total of 290,000 koruna (9,920 euros), most of it donated, on the park including a row of trees and shrubs along the road.
"We have already arranged for two more pairs of squirrels to be brought from an animal rescue centre and we are hoping that the squirrel population in the park will now grow," added Jakobec.
Squirrels are a protected species in the Czech Republic.
"Some people in the town think this is nonsense and we should be spending money on people rather than squirrels ... but it's not," insisted the mayor.
