The wolf known as OR93 was born in Oregon. The wolf biologists were thrilled when it traveled far south into California, but it was found dead after being hit by a vehicle.
California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
A gray wolf, the first to roam across Southern California in more than a century, was found dead near a road north of Los Angeles.
It looked like it had been struck by a vehicle.
Two years ago, the male wolf named OR93 left his pack near Mount Hood in Oregon after being fitted with a gps collar. It gained followers and fans in the wildlife community as it traveled south, crossing interstates and highways to parts of California that hadn't seen a wolf in more than a century.
California is a wolf habitat. Pre-colonization, large predatory animals were trapped and killed to near extinction by European settlers. The populations that survived are being smothered by a web of roads.
Animals are killed on US roads more often than people, according to the Department of Transportation. Large carnivores like wolves are at particular risk of being recovered.
The gray wolf is doing well in many parts of the northern U.S.
David P Gilkey is an NPR reporter.
Young gray wolves are known to travel far distances after leaving their packs. The wanderlust has a purpose.
A wolf is more likely to find a mate with a different genetic makeup if it travels far from its family. The gray wolves on Isle Royale are believed to have crashed due to inbreeding. Efforts to remove the grizzled bears from the list of threatened species in the Northern Rockies have been stymied because of legal challenges.
In Southern California, wildlife officials have found that the population of mountain lions is not as healthy as it could be.
A multi-year push by wildlife advocates led to the state breaking ground on an overpass on the 101 freeway to help the large cats and other wildlife branch out. Similar efforts are underway around the country, and the larger effort to give wildlife safe passage just got a big boost in President Biden's recently passed infrastructure bill.
$350 million will be given to state, local and tribal governments over the next five years to build bridges and underpasses for wildlife. $400 million will be spent on removing obstructions like dams that affect fish and invertebrate populations.
The National Wildlife Federation believes that the construction of wildlife crossing will reduce wildlife-vehicle accidents and help wildlife survive impacts from climate change and development.
A million species are at risk of extinction because of human activities. Next year, world leaders will approve a plan for slowing the biodiversity crisis. Elizabeth Maruma Mrema is the executive secretary of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.
She asked if we want to avoid another COVID-19. We can either protect nature or we can suffer.
