{"id":43789,"date":"2024-11-12T15:51:50","date_gmt":"2024-11-12T14:51:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/60263612-aa65-4e88-a1cc-b12ca6631f07"},"modified":"2024-11-12T17:27:31","modified_gmt":"2024-11-12T16:27:31","slug":"the-worlds-largest-wildlife-crossing-is-now-standing-in-california-and-its-absolutely-huge","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/rss_feed\/the-worlds-largest-wildlife-crossing-is-now-standing-in-california-and-its-absolutely-huge\/","title":{"rendered":"The world\u2019s largest wildlife crossing is now standing in California \u2013 and it’s absolutely huge"},"content":{"rendered":"

The structure crosses a 10-lane freeway and has been built to help protect all sorts of wildlife, including mountain lions, bobcats, coyotes, mule deer, black bears, Pacific gopher snakes and crocodile lizards. <\/p>

By <\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 12 November 2024 at 14:51 PM<\/p>

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The world\u2019s largest wildlife crossing, the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing, is now standing west of Los Angeles in California. This behemoth, a feat of sustainable engineering that will reconnect habitats bisected by the 10-lane 101 Freeway, has been in discussion for more than 30 years.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>

When fully completed, the crossing in Liberty Canyon within the Agoura Hills region of the Santa Monica Mountains will be a living lifeline for reptiles and mammals to reach habitats on either side of the fast-flowing freeway. Not only will it be the first of its kind in California, but it\u2019s hoped it will also act as a \u201cglobal model for urban wildlife conservation\u201d.<\/p>

The real excitement will be seeing it used by the species the crossing has mainly been built to protect from habitat isolation and interaction with humans and vehicles, namely California\u2019s mountain lions<\/a> (also known as pumas and cougars).\u00a0<\/p>

However, this is a bridge for all wildlife and it\u2019ll benefit a wide range of species big and small, from bobcats, coyotes<\/a>, mule deer and black bears<\/a> to desert cottontail rabbits, skunks, American badgers and California bats, not to mention Pacific gopher snakes and crocodile lizards.\u00a0<\/p>

And it\u2019s not just for fauna: some 5,000 plants grown from seed collected within a five-mile radius have been nurtured in two specially created nurseries. The bridge will be topped with wildflowers, shrubs and native grasses that will also benefit insect populations.\u00a0<\/p>

Named after Wallis Annenberg of the Annenberg Foundation, which has been instrumental in coordinating public and private funding for the $92 million project in partnership with the National Wildlife Foundation (NWF) and California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), work on the bridge officially commenced on Earth Day, 22 April 2022 and is due to be completed in 2026.<\/p>