New Study Finds That U.S.-Mexico Border Wall Impedes Wildlife Movement

Описание: Big news today from our Border Wildlife Study collaboration with Wildlands Network: Our study on the crossing rates of animals through different types of border wall has just been published in the journal "Frontiers of Ecology and Evolution." In the paper, we made several key findings, showing which species are able or unable to cross, and through which kinds of barriers. The first-of-its-kind analysis pulled from years of camera data along 100 miles of Arizona border.

As you can see at the beginning of this video, wildlife are able to successfully traverse vehicle barriers to access food, water, shelter, and mates, moving much as they have in the borderlands for millennia. Steel bollards, however, set just four inches apart, block the movement of most large mammal species, including the javelina shown here that keeps getting stuck in between posts and a black bear that paced for hours in distress. Small openings the size of an 8.5” x 11” piece of paper provide one of the few silver linings to this story: A number of species are able to just barely squeeze through. And yet there are only 13 of these tiny openings in all of southeast Arizona. Clearly, more and larger openings are needed to help wildlife move across the landscape.

Learn more and see more photos and graphics at our website, where you can also read the paper: https://ow.ly/3j9Q50UcfpL

Get more stats in our press release: https://ow.ly/mMrG50Ucesj

Donate to support this work: https://ow.ly/xBU950UcfvM

Video clips courtesy Sky Island Alliance and Wildlands Network.