SAVING THE MOUNTAIN LIONS OF LOS ANGELES
Home to 19 million people, Greater Los Angeles is also nature, and home to a wide range of animals – among these the majestic mountain lions, who live literally minutes away from LA landmarks like the Hollywood sign.
Living in isolated pockets and cut off from their kind by the LA freeways, the mountain lions of LA will be extinct from inbreeding in just a few decades, unless something is done to restore the balance.
BUILDING THE 101 WILDLIFE CROSSING
The #SaveLACougars campaign, led by the National Wildlife Federation in collaboration with its many partners, focuses on building the wildlife crossing at Liberty Canyon. Spanning ten panes of pavement over the 101 freeway, this crossing will reconnect an ecosystem and re-enable natural migration and travel patterns for wildlife.
The wildlife crossing blends seamlessly into the surrounding landscape, enabling mountain lions and other animals to safely cross the dangerous 101 freeway and reunite with their kind – safeguarding healthy, sustainable wildlife populations.
AN IMMERSIVE MEDIA BASED COMMUNICATION STRATEGY
Pacific Virtual Reality created, directed and produced the Save LA Cougars VR communication platform – a campaign consisting of an interactive VR app and a content strategy including social media campaigns, outreach and events, web, marketing and promotional materials, and strategic partnerships.
The goal of the campaign is to engage and build momentum for the cause, targeting decison makers, stakeholders, educators and schools, and the general public.
Filmed on location in Los Angeles and the Santa Monica Mountains using advanced, stereoscopic virtual reality cameras, 3D visualization and full 360 degree immersive sound, the Save LA Cougars VR experience pushes the boundaries of cause-based documentaries.
The VR Experience has been released for leading VR platforms including Samsung GearVR, Google Cardboard, Google Facebook, YouTube and JauntVR.
DOWNLOAD VR APP FOR GOOGLE CARDBOARD HERE:
DOWNLOAD VR APP FOR OCULUS GEAR VR AND GO HERE:
CREATING SUPPORT FOR A GREAT CAUSE
Under the banner #SaveLACougars, the project to save the LA mountain lions and other animals by building the Liberty Canyon Wildlife Crossing over the 101 freeway has been years in the making, steadily gathering broad popular support.
The Liberty Canyon Wildlife Crossing project has now reached critical mass and is supported by a wide range of stakeholders, ranging from local communities to the National Wildlife Federation, the Santa Monica Mountains Fund and the Annenberg Foundation.
The Save LA Cougars VR Experience tells the story of what the wildlife crossing is, why it needs to be built, providing context and background about how ecosystems disrupted by traffic are endangering wildlife, and pointing to a future where humans and wildlife can coexist.
Placing the viewer inside the story, the Save LA Cougars VR experience shows how we can help the mountain lions and other wildlife survive by restoring some much needed balance in our relationship with our wild neighbors.
LET’S BUILD THE WILDLIFE CROSSING!
When built, the Liberty Canyon Wildlife Crossing it will be the largest such crossing in the world, and a model for urban wildlife conservation – enabling us to live together with our wild neighbors in a better balance.
The Save LA Cougars Virtual Reality Experience helps create awareness about the project by telling the story in the best way possible – by showing the the world from a mountain lion’s perspective, explaining the project by placing the viewer right in the story.
To learn more about how to support the project, please see the Save LA Cougars VR campaign web site.
