In this episode we have the pleasure of speaking to Wildlife Researcher Ahíga Snyder of Pathways for Wildlife. Ahiga and partner Tanya Diamond , a Wildlife Ecologist, founded Pathways for Wildlife to help land trusts, conservation organizations, and transportation agencies identify important wildlife and habitat linkages for land conservation efforts.

Their work involves conducting wildlife connectivity surveys and implementing connectivity designs for wildlife movement within a landscape. These plans include data from field cameras, roadkill surveys, tracking data, GIS habitat suitability modeling, and linkage analyses.

 Pathways for Wildlife partnered with the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County, Caltrans District 5, the UC Santa Cruz Puma Project, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to identify the best locations for wildlife crossing structures on Highway 17 in Santa Cruz County. Their research informed the decision to place a wildlife tunnel under the highway at Laurel Curve. The crossing was completed in early 2023 and they are currently using wildlife cameras to monitor wildlife in and around the crossing. 

Their work is fascinating, critical to reestablishing and preserving wildlife connectivity, and full of surprises. 

The badger video as promised:
https://youtu.be/YboYtCOWblg