Animal crossing: Highway bridge aims to save California's cougars
Hollywood stars aren't the only celebrities who live in the hills around Los Angeles—Southern California's mountain lions also make their homes there and are sometimes almost as famous.
The animal, also known as a puma or a cougar, is the region's apex predator, and spotting them is something of a hobby for locals.
A 2013 photograph of the much loved—but unimaginatively named—P-22 in front of the Hollywood sign cemented the creature's place in the popular imagination.
But the picture also highlighted the difficulties faced by a species whose habitat has been invaded by people, as well as from the growing risks of extreme weather events driven by human-caused climate change.
Mountain lions have "lived here forever, and now we're building homes and facilities out on their property," Andy Blue of the San Diego Humane Society's Ramona Wildlife Center, told AFP.
A 2013 photograph of the much loved—but unimaginatively named—P-22 in front of the Hollywood sign cemented the creature's place in the popular imagination.
But the picture also highlighted the difficulties faced by a species whose habitat has been invaded by people, as well as from the growing risks of extreme weather events driven by human-caused climate change.
Mountain lions have "lived here forever, and now we're building homes and facilities out on their property," Andy Blue of the San Diego Humane Society's Ramona Wildlife Center, told AFP.
"So it's inevitable that there's going to be interaction between them."
One of the most ambitious efforts to reduce humanity's impact on mountain lions is taking shape northwest of Los Angeles: the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing.
The first phase of the project, on track to open in 2025, will see the completion of a bridge for wild animals over 10 lanes of Highway 101, one of the busiest roads in southern California, with over 300,000 daily travelers.
"When the 101 freeway was constructed through this area about 60 years ago, it had the unintended consequence of cutting off all of the Santa Monica Mountains" from another nearby mountain range, said Lauren Gill, the National Wildlife Federation's deputy director for California.
One of the most ambitious efforts to reduce humanity's impact on mountain lions is taking shape northwest of Los Angeles: the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing.
The first phase of the project, on track to open in 2025, will see the completion of a bridge for wild animals over 10 lanes of Highway 101, one of the busiest roads in southern California, with over 300,000 daily travelers.
"When the 101 freeway was constructed through this area about 60 years ago, it had the unintended consequence of cutting off all of the Santa Monica Mountains" from another nearby mountain range, said Lauren Gill, the National Wildlife Federation's deputy director for California.
The wildlife crossing, which will be covered by local plants, aims to provide safe passage for the mountain lions.
A mountain lion is tested for vitals at the San Diego Humane Society's Ramona Wildlife Center before his release back into the wild.
Wildlife photographer Johanna Turner hikes to check on her remote "camera trap," which is motion-triggered to captures images of passing wildlife, in the hills above Glendale, California, just north of Los Angeles.
A mountain lion blends into his surroundings upon release back into the wild by an environmental scientist with the California Fish and Wildlife Department.