OAKLAND,CA -- Today, Sierra released an in-depth look at the effects of a U.S. border wall on the Southwest’s recovering jaguar population. The story discusses the threats of migration routes— an absolute essential for the spectacular species— if cut off by a border wall. Mark’s account provides a truly personal and on-the-ground account of his time spent in the borderlands and emphasizes the grave risks of wildlife depletion in the wake of wall construction.
Jason Mark, Editor of Sierra Magazine and author of the article, wrote:
"The jaguar has become a symbol greater than itself, wrestled over by conservation groups, federal officials, state wildlife agencies, and academic researchers. Yet almost everyone expresses awe over the species' tentative recolonization of the Southwest. Traveling through the borderlands, I heard people wonder again and again at the jaguar's return.
“The jaguar recovery plan also contained surprisingly few mentions of the border wall. While it noted that "trans-border connectivity . . . is an important component of jaguar recovery," it did not discuss the fact that a future border wall would slice across five of the agency's six critical habitat areas.
“President Trump's talk about building a "big, beautiful wall" from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico obscures the fact that about a third of the southern border is already bisected by barriers. Environmental groups such as the Sierra Club and the Center for Biological Diversity—along with many wildlife biologists—say that the existing border infrastructure is already causing significant harm to desert ecosystems.””
Story: http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/2017-5-september-october/feature/how-trumps-border-wall-could-block-most-exciting-wildlife