Border Fence and the Endangered Species – Part 6

Let’s talk about less mystical species, the Sonoran pronghorn and the cactus ferruginous pygmy-owl.

A more elusive animal that is highly likely to be decimated by the fence is the endangered Sonoran pronghorn. In the U.S., only 100 of them exist in Arizona, and they move across the border in search of scarce grassland. This species was added to the ESA in 1967 but recovery has been slow.

With the proposed fence, conservationists worry about the impact to the Sky Islands, a mountain region in southeastern Arizona and northern Mexico and also a migration route for the Sonoran pronghorns.

One may think that a fence will only affect terrestrial wildlife. Unfortunately, this is not the case for the cactus ferruginous pygmy-owl. This little owl is one of the four subspecies of the ferruginous pygmy-owl.

The distinct Arizona population was added to the ESA in 1997 but was delisted in 2006. The delisting was the result of a lawsuit filed by the National Association of Home Builders challenging the validity of listing the pygmy-owl as a distinct population segment and the designation of its critical habitat.

In 2006, only 28 owls were spotted and their population has dropped 26% since 2000. This owl is a non-migratory species; they avoid open areas in their movements and rarely fly more than 12 feet off the ground. A 15-foot fence surrounded by cleared grounds will surely discourage the owl from crossing, and hence restrict its hunting ground and hinder its mate-searching success.

So far, I’ve presented the facts about the fence, the potential impacts to the endangered species and their habitats. In the next section, I’ll offer my opinion about the fence using some of the ideas proposed by Jared Diamond in Collapse.