How highways brought some SoCal animals to the brink

Published Aug 21, 2024 5:00 AM

Listen • 29:48

A digital rendering of a busy highway with a large horizontal bridge over all lanes. Vehicles are driving on the highway, and the bridge has the text "Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing" facing the front. It's also covered in trees and shrubs, a contrast to the paved roadway below.

Keep up with LAist.

If you're enjoying this article, you'll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report. Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less.

Topline:

In an interview with environmental journalist Ben Goldfarb, we talk about the myriad ways roads affect wild animals, and whether the nearly $100 million wildlife crossing over the 101 Freeway sets a difficult precedent.

Why it matters: Roads and highways have brought some animals — including the mountain lion population in the Santa Monica Mountains — to the brink of extinction by cutting off vital habitat and migration routes, among other problems.

Why now: Road ecologists have helped communities and public officials realize the extent of the damage, and how we might fix it. One example is the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing under construction in Los Angeles.

Support for LAist comes from

Become a sponsor

The backstory: The first wildlife crossings date back to the 1950s in Europe, Goldfarb told us, where hunters wanted deer to be able to move across the landscape. Today, the late P-22, the mountain lion that became famous when he took up residence in Griffith Park — and who's the subject of episode 1 of our latest series Imperfect Paradise: “Lions, Coyotes, & Bears” — is helping inspire ambitious projects to undo some of the damage we've done to wildlife with our prolific road-building.

Go deeper: Listen to the interview with Goldfarb in Ep. 5 of "Lions, Coyotes, & Bears."

Listen • 29:48

Lions, Coyotes, & Bears: Part 5 - Roads & Wildlife

LAist Correspondent Jill Replogle speaks with Ben Goldfarb, an environmental journalist, wildlife enthusiast, and author of Crossings: How Road Ecology is Shaping the Future of Our Planet. They discuss how roads impact the wild animals in our midst, what wildlife crossings can do to mitigate that impact, and some of the other ecological solutions that are taking shape.