世界上最大的野生动物公路交叉口将建在加利福尼亚州

World’s Largest Road Crossing for Wildlife to Be Built in California

Transportation officials in California are preparing to build the world’s largest road crossing for wildlife.

The crossing will be built over the busy 101 freeway near Los Angeles. It aims to give different kinds of animals a way to safely pass through to open areas currently blocked by roads.

Among the animals expected to use the crossing are mountain lions and other large cats, coyotes, deer, lizards¹ and snakes.

The $87-million bridge project is being financed mostly with private money, including support from conservation groups. It will be the second animal-crossing bridge in California.

Officials say the crossing will be the first of its kind near a major city. It also will reportedly be the largest in the world. It will stretch 61 meters above 10 lanes of traffic in the city of Agoura Hills.

Beth Pratt of the National Wildlife Federation² spoke³ to The Associated Press about the project.

“When the freeway went in, it cut off an ecosystem⁴. We’re just now seeing impacts of that,” Pratt said.

The area, about 56 kilometers northwest of downtown Los Angeles, is near the Santa Monica Mountains. The mountains run along America’s Pacific coast and through parts of Los Angeles.

Scientists have followed the movements of mountain lions in the area electronically. Their research showed that roads were blocking many animals and trapping them in the Santa Monica Mountains – away from other wildlife, food and other resources.

Researchers say this has led to the threat of genetic⁵ collapse⁶ for area mountain lions. Being cut off from their natural environment has driven the local mountain lion population to inbreed.

A major study published this year warned that such inbreeding could lead to the disappearance⁷ of big cats within 15 years. But the problem can be helped if the animals are able to connect with other populations to increase the mating possibilities.

“They can’t get out of here to get dates,” said Beth Pratt about the mating difficulties. She joked that many people living in Los Angeles should be able to relate to how the city’s traffic problems can get in the way of one’s personal love interests.

About 300,000 vehicles travel through the stretch of freeway each day. People who live in the area are used to seeing many kinds of creatures near their homes. Officials from the National Wildlife Federation say a large majority of people in the area favor the crossing.

One of the project’s designers, Clark Stevens, said the goal is to make the surface of the bridge look as natural as possible. The design will include a total of about 3 hectares of land.

“Ideally the animals will never know they’re on a bridge,” Stevens told the AP. “It’s landscape flowing over a freeway. It’s putting back a piece of the ecosystem that was lost.”

I’m Bryan Lynn.

Words in This Story

freeway – n.a long, wide road, usually used by traffic travelling fast over long distances

conservation – n.the protection of animals, plants, and natural resources

lane – n.part of a road that is separated from the other parts

ecosystem – n.a biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment

impact – n.the strong effect or influence something has on a person or situation

inbreed – n.the mating of closely related beings

landscape – n.the appearance of an area of land

1 lizards   

n.蜥蜴( lizard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Nothing lives in Pompeii except crickets and beetles and lizards. 在庞培城里除了蟋蟀、甲壳虫和蜥蜴外，没有别的生物。 来自辞典例句
• Can lizards reproduce their tails? 蜥蜴的尾巴断了以后能再生吗？ 来自辞典例句

2 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 ecosystem   

n.生态系统

参考例句：

• This destroyed the ecosystem of the island.这样破坏了岛上的生态系统。
• We all have an interest in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem.维持生态系统的完整是我们共同的利益。

5 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

6 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

7 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。