Wildlife Crossings of Hope:
Connecting Creatures Around the Globe
“For every organism on Earth, movement is life.”
—Erika Zavaleta, Ecologist and Evolutionary Biologist
In our evermore crowded world, wild creatures of all shapes, sizes, and means of locomotion need room to roam as they seek food, shelter, mates, and, sometimes, new homes (habitats). Too often our own constructed habitats and travel routes, including colossal freeways, prevent wildlife from getting where they need to go.
Wildlife Crossings of Hope explores what happens to animals when they become trapped on shrinking “islands” of land, called habitat fragments, and how caring scientists, environmental activists, and folks from all walks of life are helping creatures find safe passage throughout the globe.
And it’s not just terrestrial creatures that need unimpeded avenues: fish too, especially those that migrate between oceans and rivers, need free-flowing watery highways. Demolishing the dams that block fish migration is the best way to liberate our rivers and the creatures that live in and alongside them.
Building “animal infrastructure” like wildlife bridges and tearing down human infrastructure such as dams are two vital means of restoring connectivity to the creatures with whom we share this planet.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
— Prologue —
Chapter One: Home Ranges and Ranging Beyond
Chapter Two: The Problem with Patches
Chapter Three: Navigating Roads of Danger
Chapter Four: Reconnecting Wildlife: Underpasses, Overcrossings, and Canopy Bridges
Chapter Five: Safe Passage for Biodiverse Travelers: Large-Scale Wildlife Crossings
Chapter Six: Bridging Traffic in Southern California: A Celebrity Mountain Lion and His Human Entourage
Chapter Seven: Down with Dams
Chapter Eight: Thinking Big: Wildlink Corridors and the Future of Connectivity
— Epilogue —
— A Vital Link to Nature: You! —
— Scientific Names of Select Species —
— Bibliography —
— Source Notes —
— Acknowledgments —
— Index —
On a larger scale, preserving vast swaths of land called “wildlife movement corridors” allows even the most wide-ranging animals to move safely between patches of habitat, which we in turn must diligently protect and, ideally, expand. Wildlife Crossings of Hope invites you to travel with a captivating congregation of creatures, and their human devotees, from California to Canada, from Singapore to South Africa, and beyond to discover how our wild neighbors are finding bridges to safety, open waters, and spacious corridors as they move toward a more promising future.
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