The bird and the border wall: award-winning photograph highlights the impact of politics on wildlife
PICTURE STORY: Alejandro Prieto’s winning entry into this year’s Bird Photographer of the Year competition - a roadrunner seemingly blocked by the wall built by the Trump administration on the Mexico-US border - is a poignant reminder of the effect we humans have on those with whom we share this planet.
“Taking the title of Bird Photographer of the Year, our Overall Winner is ‘Blocked’ by Alejandro Prieto. It features a roadrunner at a new section of the border wall between Mexico and the USA,” read the caption on the BPOTY website.
“The image tells an important story of habitat fragmentation, and how structures such as the border wall can prevent wildlife from migrating and moving into other areas. The wall dominates the image, with the roadrunner seemingly powerless and small in the frame.”
A bobcat hunts in the shadow of the wall. Barriers also block animals from finding mating opportunities. Image: Joel Sartore / www.joelsartore.com
Built to address the political issue of humans crossing the border between Mexico and the US, the controversial structure has also had a devastating effect on wildlife. According to a 2017 study by the Center for Biological Diversity, changes to the border wall proposed by the last administration threatened no fewer than 93 endangered species including jaguars, ocelots, Mexican gray wolves and cactus ferruginous pygmy owls.
A family of javelinas encounters the wall on the US-Mexico border in southeastern Arizona. Image: Matt Clark / Defenders of Wildlife
The study identified all threatened, endangered and “candidate” species - those being considered for protection - that have ranges near or crossing the border. These included 57 endangered species, 24 threatened species, 10 species under consideration for protection and two species of concern, golden and bald eagles. In short, the construction of the 1,200-mile wall, plus all related infrastructure and enforcement, was predicted to have far-reaching consequences for wildlife, including cutting off migration corridors, reducing genetic diversity, destroying habitat, and adding vehicles, noise and lights to vast stretches of the wild borderlands.
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The endangered Quino checkerspot butterfly has limited remaining habitat in the California-Mexico borderlands. Image: Andrew Fisher
It’s not only animals who we expect to range over great distances, but manmade structures such as walls and roads can slice through habitats for many different types of animals. The Californias, through which the border wall passes, supports over 400 species of plants and animals classified as endangered, threatened or at risk, including the endangered California condor, Peninsular bighorn sheep and Quino checkerspot butterfly.
Image: Krista Schlyer / Audobon
The section of border wall meeting the Pacific ocean in the California Coastal area - one of five eco-region conservation hotspots identified by Defenders of Wildlife in its two-part report on the wall - has been rebuilt many times over the past thirty years due to moving sands and the force of the tides, something of an act of defiance by Mother Nature. According to Audobon, the cost in tax dollars has never been disclosed to the public, but San Diego is one of the most militarised sections of the border.
Image: Krista Schlyer / Audobon
Whether it’s politically charged border walls and pipelines, or highways and reservoirs, the impact of human construction on this planet cannot be understated. This is the price of humanity’s progress in modern history, our exponential population growth and globalisation and the need to feed, home and provide infrastructure for all of us. The pictures shared here offer just a tiny snapshot of some of the animals affected, a glimpse of the vast, untold story.
Andrew Gough is Media and Investigations Manager for Surge.
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