The Canal & River Trust, which preserves over 2,000 miles of inland waterways throughout England and Wales, has created lanes exclusively for ducks in London, Birmingham, and Manchester, City Metric reports. It’s encouraging people to become more aware of how narrow the pathways by canals are, explaining that cyclists and pedestrians need to become more considerate of each other and the surrounding wildlife.

The duck lanes are the shoulder of a motorway, sectioned off by a thin white line that parallels the main route. In London, the lanes were painted by Dick Vincent, a towpath ranger for the Canal & River Trust.

“It just wouldn’t be possible to paint lanes on the towpath for all our different visitors so we thought the ducks could have one instead,” says Claire Risino, the campaigns manager at the Trust.

Painted with the hashtag #sharethespace and a silhouette of a duck, the lanes allow the birds and walkers alike to happily coexist.

This temporary initiative is part of the Trust’s “Share the Space, Drop your Pace” campaign, which encourages awareness among people and now, animals using the narrow pathways.

Similarly, here in Florida, wildlife successfully uses the constructed underpass built to prevent the death and extinction of large predators.

Florida also is currently testing use of roadside animal detection systems (RADs), which use light beams tripped by an animal to activate flashing lights to warn motorists.

FSA questions

1. What is the purpose of the Canal & River Trust campaign?
2. What literary device does the author use in the title?
3. How do you think people will react to the duck lanes?
4. Describe the “Share your space, Drop your pace” initiative.
5. What effect do you think the new walkways will have on the wildlife?