Crosswalks created to keep ants from getting trampled by hikers have so far had little success in Vytebsk Region, northeastern Belarus, Belta News Agency reported on Monday.
The wooden crosswalks, built along hiking trails, were designed to serve as a sort of “underground passage” for ants and prevent them from being crushed by hikers crossing overhead.
But neither tourists nor ants have taken to using the crosswalks: hikers are walking around the still unmarked crosswalks, and so are the ants.
Entymologists hope ants will start walking under the crosswalks next spring.
Belarus built its first animal crosswalks - tunnels under roads for use by frogs - in 2009, at the National Park of Belovezhskaya Pushcha.