WILDLIFE CROSSINGS OF HOPE

A broad survey of modern efforts to expedite the safe movement of wildlife past busy roads and along obstructed waterways.

The cited statistics are shocking: Over a million vertebrates become roadkill in the U.S. every day, and over 8 million birds suffer such a fate each year in Brazil alone. But this potentially stimulating study of wildlife conservation in the face of such anthropogenic devastation will be a heavy slog for young audiences. Chichester’s descriptions of current or planned overpasses, underpasses, and natural corridors designed to connect the original ranges of wild animals and to keep routes for migratory ones open make tedious reading in the absence of maps, plans, or meaningful illustrations (Green’s occasional drab, schematic images of wild creatures placed against generic backgrounds are, at best, decorative). Returning repeatedly to the story of P-22, a puma who beat the odds by getting across busy freeways to appear in Los Angeles’ Griffith Park and so inspired the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing, the author does visit many similar structures to underscore the worldwide scope of these remediation projects. Along with talking to naturalists about the importance of all such “critter crossings” both for species survival and overall biodiversity, she introduces many of the wild beneficiaries, from butterflies and other insects to white-lipped peccaries and elephants. Still, despite the breadth of coverage and the urgency of the topic, the presentation leaves readers at arm’s length.

Significant work but hampered by the lack of supporting visuals.