When Deutsche Bahn has to intervene in nature due to construction projects, affected animals are relocated either temporarily or permanently – including ants. The black-backed wood ant is considered highly endangered in Germany according to the IUCN Red List. Therefore, two ant nests were relocated at Karower Kreuz station in Berlin.

The anthills were carried to a new location in large paper bags and initially surrounded with a sugar ring. This provides the ants with enough food until they adapt to their new site. Similarly, before the start of construction on the railway bridge over the Nuthe, a tributary of the Havel in Brandenburg, DB relocated another anthill.