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Published on Thursday, September 15, 2016

Trump’s Wall: A War On Wildlife

[TERRIFYING]

Trump’s Wall: A War On Wildlife
Infamous Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump, is known for his outlandish claims, inaccurate facts and terrifying potential policies.  Perhaps most infamous is Trump’s plan to build a concrete wall straight across the USA-Mexico border.  And while many debate the financial feasibility (who is paying for this wall?) and social repercussions of building the wall, few realize the effect Trump’s wall will have on the delicate border ecosystem and the wildlife that calls this region home.

What lives at the border?
The USA-Mexico border is a sensitive ecosystem comprised mainly of a desert-type biome.  It is home to a number of birds, animals and plants as well as host to wildlife migration patterns.  Animals who live along the border include roadrunners, cougars and desert bighorn sheep.  The area is also abundant with this desert icon: saguaro cactus.  Most concerning, endangered species, such as the North American jaguar and ocelot, are also found in this area. 

A number of these species rely on cross-border mating to protect their population and genetic diversity.  The North American jaguar works to expand its dwindling number by freely migrating across the border.  Black bears, who were only re-introduced into Texas in 1990, rely on the mating potential of their Mexican bear cousins to the south. 

Dr. Clint Epps, a wildlife biologist at Oregon State University, believes that species have been crossing the human imposed USA-Mexico border for 3-20 million years.  An impassable wall prohibiting their crossing would fundamentally change the ecosystem as we know it.    

Current status of the border
The current USA-Mexico border is comprised of a series of impassable fences, obstacles meant to stop vehicle crossing, and sensors that create virtual walls.  Areas without any physical barriers are often patrolled by the Border Enforcement Agency and Minutemen, civilian patrollers. About 40% of the 2000 mile border is fenced.  The majority of this fencing was built after the 2006 Secure Fence Act was passed.  This act proposed the building of a physical fence between the USA and Mexico in order to deter illegal entry and stop illegal drug smuggling.  Unfortunately, in an effort to erect this fence as quickly as possible, many environmental laws, such as the Endangered Species Act, were forgotten. 

The current USA-Mexico border is permeable.  However, even in it’s current state, the border is already causing issues for animals like the mountain lion, bobcat, pygmy owl and roadrunner who are restricted from freely migrating.  In addition, scientists, researchers and conservationists are having an increasingly hard time determining the precise effect of the current fencing on border wildlife.  They struggle to obtain access to the area and, once obtained, face constant interruptions by border patrol demanding they explain their purpose and provide their credentials.  When their work involves following nocturnal owls or tracking easily spooked wildlife, it’s easy to see how interruptions can seriously set them back.  

Trump’s proposed wall
In June 2015, Donald Trump announced he would be seeking the Republican presidential nomination.  As a part of this announcement, he pledged that as president, he would erect an impenetrable barrier between the USA and Mexico.  Trump’s wall would be 10 to 20 metres of solid concrete across the entire 2000 mile border.  Alarmingly, Trump’s supporters seemed unphased by this detrimental idea.  In fact, a rallying cry on Trump’s campaign trail has been, “Build the wall!” 

Consequences of Trump’s wall on wildlife
In general, any additional infrastructure in an established ecosystem will reduce wildlife movement, destroy habitats and decrease migration and connectivity between places.  Being unable to move restricts the mating pool for most border species.  Without a rich mating pool, these species will have decreased genetic diversity which can lead to increased disease susceptibility. For example, the desert bighorn sheep are extremely reliant on crossing the border to maintain genetic diversity and repopulate when they face local extinctions.  
 
Trump’s wall would also disrupt pollination and disturb watersheds and waterways which could lead to flooding and further destroyed habitats.  The ability for wildlife to freely move is increasingly important as global temperatures rise and animals are forced to find new habitats thanks to climate change.  

In addition to the consequences of the physical wall, the human activity needed to build the wall would also be detrimental to the ecosystem.  For such a large scale project, it is expected that roads would be built, helicopters and ATVs used and there would be an increased human presence along the border.  This chaotic human activity would disturb the delicate wildlife present.  

History of human barriers on wildlife
In the 1880s, railway tracks were laid in an area of California known as Antelope Valley.  Unfortunately, the antelopes were unable to cross the tracks and tens of thousands of them died.  In the 1950s, 3000 miles of fence was erected in south eastern Australia.  The Dingo Fence was created to keep wild dingoes from preying on farmers’ sheep.  Sadly, while the fence did protect the sheep from dingoes, it also protected kangaroos who are naturally prey for dingoes.  As a result, the kangaroo population boomed.  Unfortunately, this was even more catastrophic for the sheep as kangaroos are also grazers and competed for the sheep’s pastures.  

Across history, there have been many cases of the detrimental effects of human built barriers on wildlife.  Most of the time, the consequence for wildlife was unintended and completely separate from the goal of the barrier.  This further fuels the need for dedicated environmental research on human imposed barriers.  It is evident that when it comes to building walls, the environment is just not a priority.     

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Author: Ccarrell

Categories: Blogs, Animals & Wildlife, Money

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