OAKLAND, Calif.— Researchers have released new maps that shine more light on how wildlife navigate the Bay Area and serve as important tools for making community and infrastructure design more wildlife-friendly and climate-resilient.

The series of maps from Conservation Science Partners uses novel modeling tools to show where the 11-county region’s diverse wildlife, from newts to mountain lions, are likely to live and move across a human-dominated landscape.

“Incorporating wildlife connectivity science into how we build and grow our cities will allow California’s incredible biodiversity to breathe a sigh of relief and hopefully avoid extinction,” said Tiffany Yap, D.Env./Ph.D., urban wildlands science director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “If we can account for how wildlife move around us, whether it’s wide-ranging mountain lions or homebodies like California tiger salamanders, then we can design our communities in ways that benefit both people and wildlife.”

These newly released maps show how poorly planned areas without wildlife connectivity infrastructure fracture habitats and threaten the survival of California’s most imperiled animals. For example, the South Bay’s Coyote Valley is a maze of development, agricultural fields and roadways that severely limit the movement of mountain lions and other wildlife. With their movements so constrained, animals are unable to find food and shelter, avoid inbreeding or adapt to climate change. This further highlights the importance of ongoing efforts to protect and enhance connectivity in this area.

The Center has worked to protect and enhance wildlife connectivity across California, including through legislation.

In 2024 the Center co-sponsored the Room to Roam Act, which requires cities and counties to incorporate wildlife connectivity in their general plans starting Jan. 1, 2028. The new maps, combined with this legislation, will give California decisionmakers more tools to reconnect the landscape and promote safe coexistence.

Support for investing in wildlife connectivity is growing. In December the world’s largest wildlife crossing will open in Los Angeles County. The Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing spans 10 lanes of Highway 101 and two lanes of Agoura Road, connecting two areas of open space that are critical for the genetic health of the struggling mountain lions in the Santa Monica Mountains.

Preventing extinction will require reconnecting fragmented habitats and avoiding new development in critical wildlife corridors. It will also require including wildlife-friendly fencing, native plants and measures to reduce light pollution to undo some of the harms of previous development.