Mongabay: Building bridges for human-wildlife coexistence

When Yap Jo Leen was tracking dusky langurs in the forests of Penang for her master’s degree in 2016, she watched a langur they called Towkay Soh — Hokkien for “lady boss” — get hit by a car while trying to cross a busy coastal road. So in 2019, Yap and her collaborators built an artificial canopy bridge over the road, made from old fire hoses. Since then, they’ve recorded zero langur roadkill deaths in the area, Yap says. Since 2023, the group has built two more canopy bridges on Penang Island. Besides reducing roadkill and mitigating human-wildlife conflict, the bridges serve as a tool for environmental education on an island where rapid urbanization and habitat loss is driving people and primates into contact. More STORY.