Donald Trump recently announced an executive order to build a border wall with Mexico. The goal at hand is to stop people from crossing the border, but what consequence will it have on animals trying to cross?
The area surrounding the USA/Mexico border is home to diverse wildlife. Some lifeforms that rely on this ecosystem include the roadrunner, big horn sheep, and the saguaro cactus, as well as endangered animals like jaguars and ocelots. Animal migrations across the border are very common and necessary for these animals to thrive.
Environmentalists are saying that plenty of evidence exists that this wall could be detrimental to native wildlife, especially for already endangered species. As stated by Sergio Avila-Villegas, from Arizona Sonora Desert Museum in Tuscon, "Border infrastructure not only blocks the movement of wildlife, but...destroys the habitats, fragments the habitats and the connectivity that these animals use to move from one place to another." The wall could also restrict the size of mating pools (making for less genetic diversity and more disease), disrupt pollination and disturb water flow leading to potential floods and habitat destruction.
This ridiculous idea is beginning to look a whole lot more like an episode from Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner
The way we treat our environment is already bad enough. The last thing we need is a huge, unnecessary, expensive wall to add to this mess. We ought to be looking out for our endangered species in all ways possible and not allowing for the further deterioration of our precious environment. This is not the time to put science on the back burner. Let's pull together as a society and advocate to Trump that the wall is an extreme danger to us and that when it comes to Earth and its inhabitants, there is no plan B. Anyways, we all know building a wall won't actually stop undocumented immigrants from crossing the border; they will just find different ways to enter the US.
As perfectly stated by Kierán Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity, "There is no reason to sacrifice the health of border communities and wildlife for such political grandstanding."
