Highways that cut through wild areas present a daunting barrier for local wildlife. In Washington State, the Olympic Cougar Project—a partnership between a coalition of Native American tribes and the Washington State Department of Transportation—is studying the movements of cougars as they wander through parts of the Olympic Peninsula. Information gathered by the group could lead to the placement of wildlife crossings over Interstate 5—bridges built for wandering animals, intended to improve the overall health of the ecosystem. Stephanie Keith, a photographer with Reuters, recently joined project members as they tracked a wild cougar named Lilu.
Tracking Cougars to Figure Out Where to Build a Bridge
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Vanessa Castle, a member of the Olympic Cougar Project, uses her phone to track the wild cougar named Lilu on December 13, 2021. "As an Indigenous person, we are taught that we have to walk in two worlds, one of our traditional sense and one of the modern-day sense," said Castle, a Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe member who works for the project. "I think it changes the way these scientists think about these animals." #
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Read Barbee, a field technician and member of the Olympic Cougar Project, tracks Lilu using a device that detects radio waves, near Port Angeles, on December 14, 2021. #
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A handout photo taken on October 30, 2019, features a land bridge for wildlife in another part of Washington State—crossing Interstate 90 near Snoqualmie Pass. Researchers on the Olympic Peninsula are helping to determine the best location for a possible wildlife crossing like this over Interstate 5. #
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Glen Kalisz, a habitat-connectivity biologist with the Washington State Department of Transportation, shows data he collected about cougar habitats near Olympia, Washington, on December 17, 2021. Some 100,000 cars travel along I-5 each day, blocking cougars and other wildlife from crossing to the other side of the freeway. "It is likely one of the worst barriers for all species in the state," Kalisz said. #
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