No surprise! Trump’s Border Wall Is Disorienting Animals and Destroying the Environment. Biden Must Help Wildlife Now.
When Donald Trump’s administration began construction on their infamous and unnecessary border wall along the U.S.’s southern edge, wildlife conservationists were worried. They knew this would hurt animals and the fragile, important habitats in that region. In fact, scientists are now warning of possible “ecocide” if the U.S. and Mexican governments do not quickly establish corridors for wildlife to freely roam between the borders. What they mean is that, this ecosystem is so delicate, it could collapse if the situation does not improve. Yet sadly, U.S. President Biden and Mexican President López Obrador still haven’t done enough to reduce the negative impacts of Trump’s disastrous wall.
Without wildlife corridors, animals are left cut off from important breeding and grazing grounds, as well as their seasonal migration routes. Thousands of animals use these land paths to find the mates and nutrients their species depend on. Confused, lost, and disoriented, they have no way of meeting their survival needs. Cameras that conservationists have installed show bears, boars, deer, mountain lions, bighorn sheep, a type of raccoon called coatimundis, and more trying to roam freely as they once did — only to come across the insurmountable wall obstacle in their paths. One heartbreaking video shows a family of wild boars that was so desperate to find water on the other side, they searched for a full five hours to find a way around the wall.
On top of that, Trump’s wall construction destroyed landscapes and ecosystems that wildlife depend on. From blasting mountaintops, to chopping down the foliage that animals feed and live on, construction has meant decimating whole habitats. But the Earth and wildlife shouldn’t have to pay the price for humans’ decisions to erect land barriers. These are animals’ lands and homes, too. It’s imperative that President Joe Biden’s administration work together with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to protect wildlife. Sign the petition to urge Presidents Biden and López Obrador to create wildlife corridors along the U.S.-Mexico border!