Construction starts on world’s largest wildlife crossingin L.A.

ANIMAL KINGDOM

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Gov. Gavin Newsom, third from left, joins other dignitaries during a groundbreaking ceremony Friday for the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing in Los Angeles. MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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By Cheri Mossburg

CNN

Wild animals in Southern California soon will have more turf to roam thanks to the world’s biggest wildlife crossing, which will span 10 lanes of Highway 101 in northwest Los Angeles to close a crucial gap for habitats.

Mountain lions, which typically wander a territory spanning 150 to 200 miles, will be among the chief beneficiaries of the new overpass, providing a safe passage from the Santa Monica Mountains, across the freeway, and into the Simi Hills of the Santa Susana mountain range.Last week, an 18-month-old mountain lion recently separated from its mother and seeking its own terrain was hit and killed on the 405 Freeway, Ana Cholo, spokesperson for the National Park Service, told CNN.

The $87 million Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing is named for the president and CEO of the Annenberg Foundation, a family foundation that supports nonprofits. More than 5,000 individual contributions were made, said Tony Tavares, interim director of CalTrans, the California Department of Transportation, noting the crossing also will help protect motorists.

“We can protect California’s ecosystems without jeopardizing the transportation and other infrastructure development that we need for a growing population,” said U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla at the project’s groundbreaking ceremony Friday.

Gov. Gavin Newsom, who was also there, promised $50 million for other similar projects throughout the state, though they will not be of the same size and scope. The Annenberg Wildlife Crossing is a partnership of the National Wildlife Federation and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, and will be built by Caltrans.

Because pumas demand such a large territory, being relegated to an “urban island” surrounded by busy freeways has led to inbreeding and lack of genetic diversity, according to the park service, which has been studying cougars in the Los Angeles area for two decades.

“You’re hemmed in to the point where all you can do is date your cousins,” Brad Sherman said of the mountain lions, which thrive when they have a large territory to hunt and mate.

P-22, one of the mountain lions being tracked by the park service, has gained fame in the area for roaming through the Hollywood Hills, a bad bout of mange after being exposed to rat poison, and even mauling a koala at the L.A. Zoo in Griffith Park.

The crossing will blend with the surroundings and be covered in soil and native plants. The Santa Monica Mountains Foundation created a special plant nursery that will grow all of the fauna to be used in covering the crossing when it nears completion in 2025.