The worlds largest wildlife crossing opens soon. Heres how to see the cute animals.

Soon, Californians driving on the 101 freeway won't be the only ones commuting in comfort. The Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing, a large, vegetated overpass, will soon open to help animals safely and comfortably cross the traffic-splintered land. It is the world's largest wildlife crossing.

The bridge connects the Santa Monica Mountains to the Simi Hills, spanning ten lanes of traffic and an access road. This project has been in development for ten years, part of a nationwide scientific monitoring program. The crossing was funded by a public-private partnership involving government funds and philanthropic donations.

Mountain lions, coyotes, bobcats, deer, and various bird, lizard, and snake species are expected to use this path to traverse the freeway and find more land to roam and mate. Trail cameras installed near the crossing will track animal populations before the official opening on December 2. By opening day, 50 cameras and four thermal video cameras will monitor visitors.

The photo stream from these cameras will be available to the public, although live video feeds will initially be restricted to researchers for security reasons.

Among the first visitors detected by the cameras, a coyote trotted up the side of the unfinished path under the cover of night. This sighting excited project scientists, who had expected a smaller animal to attempt the cross first. Scientists are optimistic that a mountain lion may use the crossing before the ribbon cutting ceremony.