We now know wildlife, large and small, need large landscape connectivity to be resilient just naturally, but especially in the faces of things like climate change, drought and fire. We have space for wildlife, and you put the people in other places. You put aside a wildlife refuge, and you kind of create these islands of open space, and you check the box. You know, when I was coming up in conservation 30 years ago, we - pretty much the paradigm was you put aside the Yosemite. SIMON: Help us understand how this problem has grown over the years and why it becomes increasingly difficult for wildlife to get across places. And we've learned from decades of wildlife crossings what to do to help them get there, which is mainly put up fencing to sort of eliminate any other option. We just put a sign up saying wildlife crossing this way. SIMON: Well, how does this work? Do the animals actually, like, have to push a button to stop traffic and cross or what? Thanks so much for joining us.īETH PRATT: Thanks for having me - really appreciate being here. Beth Pratt is regional executive director of the California National Wildlife Federation. California has broken ground on what's being billed as the world's largest wildlife crossing - more than 200-feet long and spanning over 10 lanes of traffic to help animals pass freely and safely themselves. That's the problem that many of Southern California's big cats and coyotes and other wildlife have faced over the years as cities grew and highways expanded. Why did the mountain lion cross the road? Well, that answer might be simpler than how it crossed the road.
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