Los Angeles Wildlife Bridge

Rachel Stanley

In Los Angeles, California, the biggest wildlife ridge is being built across a 10 lane highway on the U.S Highway 101 to the north-west of the city. The bridge is going to cost $87 million and will be completed by 2023. The bridge is going to be 165 feet long and blend into the mountain so animals will not be able to tell they are on a bridge. Engineers are able to make the bridge blend into the mountain by having trees and grass on it do it looks like regular land. Its main purpose is  to connect to different parts of the Santa Monica Mountain so mountain lions and other animals are able to safely cross the highway. This is crucial because currently animals aren't able to interact with other species because they are confined in their own section of the mountain.as a result of the highway. This mainly affects mountain lions because they are not able ti interact with other mountain lions in the area. Additionally, mountain lions will go extinct in the next half century of they are not able to genetically diversify. This relates to class because biodiversity is an important aspect to the ecosystem. Without mountain lions, the food chain would be out of balance and their would be a surplus of animals that mountain lions prey on. The wildlife bridge in California will help decrease the likelihood of mountain lions going extinct. This is an important thing to do because in every state (except California), it is legal to poach mountain lions which is making their population decrease. I think the bridge is necessary to save mountain lions amongst other species, It will also be safer for humans because there will be less animals trying to cross the highway. I think it is necessary for other states to take initiative and build bridges similar to this one. The bridge was also a good choice because another alternative would have been tunnels. While tunnels would have allowed animals to safely cross the highway, not all animals would use them so it is important to have a system that works for every species.
Article  and image: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/21/los-angeles-wildlife-bridge-mountain-lions