President Donald Trump is working on erecting a fresh chunk of the border wall dividing the United States and Mexico, and this time it’s posing a threat to the movement of wildlife in a remote area of Arizona’s San Rafael Valley. The region is home to a variety of rare animals but is sparsely populated, as reported by The Guardian.
Eamon Harrity, the wildlife program manager at the conservation nonprofit Sky Island Alliance, emphasized the importance of the area as a wildlife corridor. He mentioned, “Large predators and other animals move freely through this landscape. That [movement] won’t happen once the wall is complete.” So, it’s pretty clear that the wall is going to mess things up for the animals.
Private companies have been called upon by Customs and Border Protection to bid on contracts for constructing a 24.7-mile stretch of the wall in the valley south of Sonoita, according to BEX. The area is surrounded by mountains known as “sky islands,” which provide a diverse range of habitats for wildlife. One of the 65 wildlife cameras operated by Sky Island Alliance in the area where there is a gap in the wall has captured numerous images of bears, mountain lions, bobcats, pronghorns, and other wildlife.
The construction of the 30-foot fence through San Rafael Valley will disrupt a critical migration route between Arizona and Mexico, making it impossible for animals larger than a jackrabbit to pass through. And studies have shown that the border wall has already impacted ecosystems and wildlife by changing behavior, fragmenting populations, and cutting off animals from essential food and water sources, as reported by Sierra. A study conducted by Harrity and a team of researchers found that less than 10 percent of observed wildlife were able to pass through a particular stretch of fencing in Arizona.
I’m not really sure why this matters, but it’s worth noting that the last thing the region needs right now is to block off corridors and disrupt connectivity for wildlife, especially as the climate crisis worsens and drought conditions force animals to travel farther to survive. It’s a tough situation, and it seems like the Trump administration is more concerned with making headlines than actually solving any real problems.
