Wildlife has suffered from the border fencing installed by Homeland Security to help stop the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs from coming into the United States. Environmentalists are now saying that these barriers are having detrimental effects on wildlife, but advocates of tighter border security say security should be on the top of the list for all Americans.

There’s a particular spot in Conchise County Arizona where animals cross from one country to the other as a pattern of migration, but the see-through mesh of metal fencing is causing major havoc on a few species. Animals may not be able to colonize habitats, leading to decreasing populations or even extinction for some species.

“It’s blocking the animals, but it’s not stopping people from crossing,” said Dan Millis, the Sierra Club. “We have seen ocelot; we have seen jaguar here. If a large mammal comes up to this wall, unless it’s a monkey, there’s no way it getting over it.”

For those worried more about America’s security than wildlife, the barrier is effective, especially when Border Patrol agents are nearby to apprehend people who breach the barrier; however, even one supporter of tighter border security realizes that wildlife has suffered from the addition of the border fencing.

“We had a really nice herd of mule deer that migrated in from Mexico every October, stayed here till February,” said John Ladd, Conchise County rancher. “We probably had 200, 250 deer, and I probably got 40 deer left. They can’t get across there. Nothing can get through that thing. Birds can fly over it, but it’s terrible.”

Image courtesy of Arizona Public Media.