Under-construction wildlife overpass in California promises to be the largest in the world

Mountain lions and other animals will now have an overpass that is 200 feet long to roam freely and cross the Highway 101 concrete jungle. The under-construction overpass is in Los Angeles and aims to increase the chances of the animals' life.

The mountain lions breed with the people nearby because of the freeway system, and preservationists fear that this could lead to lower survival rates. The under-construction overpass will connect the Simi Hills with Santa Monica Mountains over ten highway lanes in the Agoura Hills. It would lead to animals mixing with unrelated and other mountain lions.

According to Gov. Gavin Newsom, the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing will be the world's largest once it's completed. The overpass will be covered with soil and will be 165 feet wide. It will also have walls and vegetation. The walls would help in blocking the noise and light from the road.


The wildlife branch chief for the National Park Service's Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, Seth Riley, stated that the overpass's goal is to make it look like it's a natural part of the area. He also said that it is exhilarating how conservation is actually happening.

For the past 25 years, Dr. Riley's team has studied urbanization's and growth's effects. States like Washington and Montana have already created crossings for the wildlife. Massachusetts has tunnels for salamanders, and the Mojave Desert has desert tortoises that walk through a passageway.

The overpass in Los Angeles is under-construction, keeping mountain lions in mind. However, other types of animals will also benefit from it. Dr. Riley states that the Santa Monica Mountains' Mountain lions have low genetic diversity.

It is a point of concern for wildlife observers that the animals can share a similar fate to panthers in Floria if there is no connection with the northern population, which has more genetic diversity. According to Dr. Riley, there can be a 100% chance of complete extinction of mountain lions in the next 50 years.

Dr. Riley stated that Florida panthers are mountain lions' subspecies and had experienced bad results from inbreeding depression or inbreeding. It could cause lower reproduction or survival rates.