Learner Spotlight: Taylor Melford Feinberg

Taylor Melford Feinberg is a fifth-grade iLEAD learner with a passion for big cats. She is involved in a project to create a bridge to save Los Angeles cougars that are endangered.

What got you interested in the wildlife crossing?
What got me interested in the wildlife crossing was my passion for the world around me. I also just think this is a wonderful project and that what we take from the cougars we should repay.

What do you like about cougars?
I just love all cats and that’s my passion. They have a beauty that radiates to the world around them, a strength that flows through the earth, and a power that could teach us all.

What would you tell other iLEAD learners about the project? What are ways they can help?
Learners could help by educating their parents on why rat poison is such a big problem. First, the rats eat the poison, then the coyotes eat the rats, and then the cougars eat the coyotes that have been poisoned. Kids could also help by donating to the National Wildlife Federation  to help get this bridge built. The roads around the Santa Monica Mountains are separating the cougars and other wildlife, forcing many to inbreed. This is causing them to be less healthy than other animals with a bigger genetic diversity. If we do not build a bridge, they could die off in the next 50 years. This is a huge problem since we are all connected. If they go extinct, there will not be big enough predators to eat the deer. The deer population will grow bigger and bigger as the predator population grows smaller. Even though it doesn’t seem like a problem yet, we will soon be affected by the wildlife in the Santa Monica Mountains going extinct. Last year, I built a website with my mom and two friends to help raise awareness and money for the wildlife crossing. We raised over $1,000. I bet you could, too.