Thousands of Scientists Endorse Study Proclaiming Trump's Border Wall a Disaster for Wildlife

https://weather.com/science/environment/news/2018-07-26-trump-border-wall-study-scientists-endorse?fbclid=IwAR23X0m3qiMyS67EWNmqsBp6mpEH6Zi35DAttitt04dkGmjHJHlwI49MSu4

By Pam WrightJuly 26 2018 03:06 PM EDT

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Published Tuesday in Bioscience, the study examines the impacts the nearly 2,000-mile border wall has and will have on the ecosystem that straddles the United States-Mexican border. While the findings do not shed any significant new light on the plight of the thousands of animals and plants living along the border, it's unusual for two reasons: the authors asked for endorsements from the scientific community and the community responded in droves.

According to the authors, more than 2,500 scientists from around the world had endorsed the study by the time it was published Tuesday. This included 616 signatures from Mexico and 1,473 from the U.S., including many members of the National Academy of Sciences. Since then, 2,700 have backed the study, Earther reported.

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The study found that efforts to build the wall “threaten some of the continent's most biologically diverse regions," noting that some already constructed segments of the wall “are reducing the area, quality and connectivity of plant and animal habitats and are compromising more than a century of binational investment in conservation.”

The study also notes the border wall will devalue the investment made to protect lands that are home to at least 110 endangered species, more than 100 migratory bird species, four wildlife refuges and fish hatcheries, and numerous protected wetlands.

Because the wall is impassable, wildlife, including the Peninsular bighorn sheep and the Mexican gray wolf, will be cut off from their natural habitat, which could have an impact on reproduction.

The border wall was one of Trump's campaign promises that continues to frustrate environmentalists. Mexico has said it will not fund the wall, as Trump has promised.