The first wildlife crossings were constructed in France during the 1950s. European countries, including the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany and France, have been using various crossing structures to reduce the conflict between wildlife and roads for several decades and use a variety of overpasses and underpasses to protect and re-establish nature such as amphibians, badgers, ungulates, invertebrates, and other small mammals.

Several studies have been conducted to determine the effectiveness of wildlife corridors at providing habitat connectivity (by providing viable migration corridors) and reducing wildlife-vehicle collisions.

The effectiveness of fauna structures is predominantly site-specific. This is due to differences in location, fauna structure, species, habitat etc., but fauna crossings appear to have been beneficial to several species throughout different locations around Australia.