Curious coyote sneaks onto $114M wildlife bridge a month before grand opening

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One coyote got a head start crossing a bridge meant for wildlife in Los Angeles County.

The canine became the first animal photographed on the still-unfinished Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing, according to a post from the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

The coyote is seen venturing onto its southern slope more than a month before the $114 million project’s scheduled opening.

National Park Service scientists captured the animal climbing the slope on Oct. 28 in Agoura Hills, marking an early milestone for the long-awaited crossing over the 101 Freeway. 

The sighting documents the coyote exploring the construction site, rather than completing a trip across the freeway.

On Thursday, biologists also spotted a coyote on top of the crossing itself and released a photo.

The coyote moved north along the crossing’s deck around 1:37 a.m.

That was the first documented sighting of a larger mammal on the crossing itself, according to a separate post from the National Recreation Area.

The crossing is scheduled to open to wildlife Dec. 2, giving animals a route between the Santa Monica Mountains and Simi Hills. The bridge is 210 feet long and 174 feet wide, with a concrete base.

Biologists plan to install remote cameras in early November to track how species like bobcats, coyotes, gray foxes and mule deer approach and use the structure.

Officials previously held a press conference at the site of bridge, explaining that said animals will wear “biologging tags” that will measure their heart rate, GPS data and body temperature.

“We’ll be able to see not just how the animals move near the crossing, but how they are physiologically affected,” said Seth Riley, chief wildlife ecologist for the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

The goal of the tags is to see how animals interact with the bridge.

“Are they happy to go up on there and their heart rate doesn’t change, or what is it like to be near the freeway? That will be a new kind of data that we’re interested in,” Riley added.

Scientists have begun fitting deer with the tags and mountain lions are up next, they said.

Beth Pratt, president of the Wildlife Crossing Fund, said the bridge is about conserving wildlife and making sure mountain lions don’t go extinct.

“The crossing is about the next century of wildlife preservation in the Santa Monica Mountains. It’s about the mountain lion population not going extinct,” she said.

The crossing was inspired by the outpouring of grief surrounding the death of the “Hollywood Lion,” P22, famously pictured in front of the iconic Hollywood sign in 2012, who died from injuries suffered after being hit by a car attempting to cross the 101.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said California had committed $54 million when he broke ground on the crossing in 2022, and said another $10 million would complete the project, which would also be funding by philanthropists.

By 2025, that figure had hit $92 million and could soar to a whopping $114 million, with taxpayers contributing $77 million so far.

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