LA Building Wildlife Crossing to Combat Lions Extinction

Officials in Los Angeles have approved the construction of a wildlife crossing along U.S. Highway 101, in hopes of fighting off the extinction of mountain lions and other species, The Associated Press reports.

The bridge, the second of its kind in California set to measure as the largest in the world, will stretch 200 feet above 10 lanes of highway and a feeder road 35 miles northwest of downtown L.A., per CBS.

Mountain lions in Southern California are at risk of extinction by 2050 because they reside in isolated groups in different parts of the city. The Santa Ana population, southeast of L.A., is at risk of death by a car collision. In the nearby Santa Monica mountains, lions are also being trapped by roadways.

SoCal mountain lions also face threats of wildfires and getting shot by landowners.

"When the freeway went in, it cut off an ecosystem. We're just now seeing impacts of that," Beth Pratt of the National Wildlife Federation told The AP.

L.A. expects to break ground on the $87-million project sometime within the next two years.

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