Wildlife · Nationwide road corridors

Wildlife Roadkill in Costa Rica: Who's Building Safer Crossings

Vehicles kill large numbers of wild animals on Costa Rica's roads, from snakes and opossums to ocelots and pumas, a problem The Tico Times highlighted in an April 26, 2026, analysis. Biologists, road engineers and lawyers have spent years pushing for wildlife crossings, and in August 2026 lawmakers passed a law requiring crossings in road projects, published in September.

By Pura-Verde.com Editors · Published October 30, 2026 · Updated October 31, 2026
Original report: The Tico Times: Costa Rica's Wildlife Is Dying on the Roads That Drive Its Tourism (2026-04-26)

Costa Rica sells itself on wildlife, and millions of visitors come to see sloths, monkeys and wild cats. Yet many of those animals die on the same roads that carry tourists to them. The Tico Times argued in an April 26, 2026, analysis that the country's road network has become one of its quieter conservation failures. Here's what the evidence shows, who's working on it and what changed later in 2026.

How many animals die on Costa Rica's roads?

Nobody has a precise national count, and estimates vary widely depending on who's counting and how. What exists are solid snapshots.

Wild cats are the best tracked. Panthera Costa Rica recorded 491 wild cats killed by vehicles from 2012 through September 2022, across all six of the country's species: jaguar, puma, ocelot, jaguarundi, margay and oncilla, biologist Daniela Araya-Gamboa told Mongabay Latam in 2022. Ocelots were hit most often. In a single morning survey on one 45-kilometer stretch of road between national parks, her team counted 68 dead animals of all kinds.

Smaller animals are harder to count and far more numerous. A Panthera-led study on National Routes 1 and 160 in Guanacaste and on the Nicoya Peninsula, reported by Mongabay Latam in July 2026, recorded 74 roadkilled species and estimated about 16,000 birds and 6,000 amphibians killed each year on Route 1 alone. CRHoy reported in August 2026 that the University of Costa Rica puts the national toll at about 19,000 wild animals a year. Volunteers also log roadkill through a long-running citizen science project, which The Tico Times said has gathered more than 3,400 observations of 306 species since 2013, with opossums, sloths, monkeys, snakes and armadillos reported most often. The same analysis cited a researchers' estimate of 4 animals killed on the country's highways every hour, without saying who made it.

The scientists testing what works

The good news is that Costa Rica has its own evidence that crossings help. The country's first wildlife underpasses were built in 2010 along the Costanera Sur (Route 34) where it borders Hacienda Barú National Wildlife Refuge near Dominical. A 2022 study in the journal Diversity by Ronald Villalobos-Hoffman, Jack Ewing and Michael Mooring, described by its authors as the first controlled test of wildlife crossings in Central America, found 21 mammal species eventually used the underpasses and overpasses, and roadkill dropped compared with stretches without them. Some species adapted right away; others took over a year.

Not every crossing is a concrete tunnel. On the southern Caribbean coast, the Sloth Conservation Foundation, founded by British zoologist Rebecca Cliffe, strings rope canopy bridges between trees so sloths don't have to climb down to the ground, where cars, dogs and power lines put them at risk. Its team was installing its 114th bridge when Mongabay reported on the project in 2022, and its Connected Gardens model asks neighbors to keep their treetops linked, according to UCLA's profile of Cliffe. We look at her work in our guide to species conservation in Costa Rica.

The 2026 Panthera study, supported by the Inter-American Development Bank and involving road ecologist Fernanda Teixeira and CONAVI engineer Alejandro Badilla, adds an important caveat. Camera traps showed 36 species using underpasses and canopy bridges, but pumas, margays, jaguarundis, peccaries and nine-banded armadillos living nearby never used them. The researchers concluded that crossings cut roadkill only as part of a full system: fencing that guides animals to them, regular maintenance and ongoing monitoring. The project also produced Costa Rica's first national protocols for monitoring and maintaining crossings.

The lawyers who took Route 32 to court

Route 32, the highway from San José to the Caribbean port of Limón, cuts through Braulio Carrillo National Park and has become the test case. In January 2021, the Constitutional Chamber ordered CONAVI, the national roads council, to build the wildlife crossings required by the road's environmental permit. Years later, many weren't done.

In 2025, the court upheld a disobedience complaint against CONAVI's executive director, Efraím Zeledón, The Tico Times reported on July 22, 2025. Then, on February 24, 2026, after a complaint by environmental lawyer Wálter Brenes Soto, the court found CONAVI in disobedience a second time, Delfino.cr reported. CONAVI's own November 2025 report counted 31 underpasses and 20 overpasses required, with 29 underpasses but only 2 overpasses completed.

The law that came next

When The Tico Times wrote its analysis, a bill requiring wildlife crossings had passed a first vote but wasn't law. It nearly expired in June 2026 before lawmakers extended its deadline. On August 4, 2026, the Legislative Assembly approved it unanimously, 56 to 0, CRHoy reported. The bill was proposed by former Frente Amplio legislator Ariel Robles.

It became Law 10970, published in La Gaceta on September 7, 2026. It requires wildlife crossings in new national and local infrastructure that breaks natural connectivity, especially near protected areas, national parks and forests, with SINAC approving the technical studies. Existing roads must add measures when they're repaired, widened or rehabilitated, and SINAC has 24 months after the rules are issued to map crossing points on existing roads. The law still needs those implementing regulations, and work depends on budgets. Our story on the wildlife crossings law follows it in detail.

What drivers can do

• Slow down near forests, rivers and protected areas, especially at dawn, dusk and night. Araya-Gamboa's team recommends lower speeds for the safety of both wildlife and drivers.
• Watch for crossing signs and canopy bridges, which mark known crossing points.
• Report roadkill with a photo and location on iNaturalist, which helps researchers find hotspots.
• Call for help if you find an injured animal, rather than handling it. You can find licensed centers on our wildlife rescue map.

Roads aren't the only hazard: power lines kill many monkeys and sloths too, as we explain in our story on the electrocution plan.

Frequently asked questions

How many animals are killed on Costa Rica's roads each year?

There's no precise national count. CRHoy reported a University of Costa Rica estimate of about 19,000 wild animals a year, and Panthera Costa Rica recorded 491 wild cats killed between 2012 and September 2022.

Do wildlife crossings work in Costa Rica?

A 2022 study on Route 34 near Hacienda Barú found 21 mammal species used the crossings and roadkill dropped. A 2026 Panthera study found they work best with guiding fences, maintenance and monitoring.

Is there a law requiring wildlife crossings in Costa Rica?

Yes. Law 10970, approved August 4, 2026, and published September 7, 2026, requires wildlife crossings in new infrastructure that fragments habitat and mitigation when existing roads are upgraded. Implementing regulations are still pending.

What should I do if I hit or find an injured animal on a Costa Rican road?

Pull over only where it's safe, don't handle the animal, and contact SINAC, emergency services or a licensed wildlife rescue center.

Sources and original reporting

1. The Tico Times: Costa Rica's Wildlife Is Dying on the Roads That Drive Its Tourism (2026-04-26)
2. Mongabay Latam: Carretera divide bosque: pasos de fauna reducen atropellamientos pero requieren sistema integral (2026-07-21)
3. Mongabay Latam: Cómo impactan las carreteras a felinos silvestres de Costa Rica, entrevista con Daniela Araya Gamboa (2022-10-06)
4. The Tico Times: Costa Rica Court Sanctions Road Official Over Delayed Wildlife Crossings (2025-07-22)
5. Delfino.cr: Sala IV: MOPT desobedece sentencia que obliga a construir pasos de fauna en la Ruta 32 (2026-03-19)
6. CRHoy: Congreso deja en firme ley que obliga construir pasos de fauna (2026-08-04)
7. Bufete de Costa Rica: Ley para garantizar pasos de fauna en infraestructuras, Ley 10970
8. Mongabay: Bridges in the sky carry sloths to safety in Costa Rica (2022-02)
9. UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability: Rebecca Cliffe profile

We wrote this story from the published reports and official sources above. We didn't interview the people named unless the story says so.