Jaguars certainly have no concept of borders, but along the border that separates the United States from Mexico, these big cats must adapt.
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Once master of the plains of Arizona's Sonoran Desert, the jaguar now struggles to survive in a landscape divided in two by a metal wall.
The obstacle, which former President Donald Trump described as “insurmountable,” actually has little impact on stemming the daily influx of thousands of migrants.
But according to wildlife experts, this barrier hinders animal mobility and has catastrophic consequences for wildlife.
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“One of the most important things for the health of ecosystems is the connectivity of habitats,” explains Laiken Jordahl from the NGO Center for Biological Diversity.
“Animals need to roam, find food, water and mates. “It is important that they have large contiguous areas,” he adds.
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“Vulnerable”
Despite some gaps, the rusty-looking metal fence stretches for miles, up to nine meters high, at the southern tip of the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge, a 47,000-acre sanctuary for endangered animal and plant species in Arizona.
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It marks the end of the territory of the United States, but not the end of dozens of species such as the American antelope, the mule deer, the lynx, the cougar or even the jaguar.
“This wall will clearly cut off this entire ecosystem from all wild areas in Mexico, which will make the animals on both sides (of the wall) more vulnerable to drought, climate change and inbreeding,” claims Laiken Jordahl.
The barrier “significantly affects the migration (of animals) from north to south and from south to north,” Mexican José Manuel Perez of the Cuenca los Ojos association, which studies animal movements, told AFP in October. in the area with surveillance cameras.
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For example, a herd of wild boar that relied on water sources on the American side “tried to cross the border wall for five hours,” he explained at the time.
Scientists estimate the number of jaguars on the Mexican side at 150, while the cat has been rarely spotted on the American side in recent decades.
“A single jaguar can cover hundreds or even thousands of hectares, it can cover hundreds of kilometers in a few days,” emphasizes Laiken Jordahl.
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“Jaguars are approaching Arizona from the Mexican state of Sonora, but many oppose a strong border wall,” he adds.
“Irreparable”
The physical barrier between the United States and Mexico was built over several decades along parts of the 3,000 km border to combat illegal immigration.
But it was only under Donald Trump that this wall was really expanded. According to a report released in September by a parliamentary audit office, his government repealed rules intended to mitigate the wall's environmental damage, resulting in “irreparable” damage to nature reserves and indigenous territories.
For Laiken Jordahl, this hasty construction has undone several years of conservation efforts in which the federal government spent “hundreds of millions of dollars,” particularly to enable the return of animals such as the Mexican gray wolf and the jaguar.
“They undermine all of these goals by building impermeable structures,” he says.
Joe Biden paused wall expansion when he arrived at the White House in 2021, but last October his administration approved closing some gaps in the wall, particularly in Arizona.
“We are gradually unraveling the patchwork” that this ecosystem represents on the border between the two countries, believes Laiken Jordahl.
“It’s only a matter of time before it starts to collapse.”