It’s been 20 years this month
since the Berlin Wall was dismantled, marking the beginning of the end
for the Iron Curtain that once separated Eastern Europe from much of
the western world. But according to a recent Wall Street Journal article, some of the region’s wildlife
still hasn’t forgotten the man-made boundary that interrupted their
historic habitat. The findings of European scientists could have implications
for America’s own southern border wall.
Between Germany and the Czech
Republic, where an electrified fence and armed guards once barred the
passage of wildlife and people alike, a series of parks and nature preserves
known as the Green Belt now safeguard forests and wildlife. Most animals
take full advantage of the Green Belt, but one species, the red deer,
refuses to cross the invisible line where the fence once stood.
Data from radio-collared deer
and the observations of wildlife biologists have shown that, with very
rare exceptions, the German deer stay in Germany, and the Czech
deer stay out. The deer have apparently passed down a sort of
cultural memory of the barrier so that populations on either side of
the former fence refuse to cross. That means the two populations are
no longer sharing their genes with each other. And as the Journal article
points out, the deer’s propensities are keeping them from taking full
advantage of the Green Belt, “one of the biggest ecological projects
in European history.”
In the United States, some
650 miles of wall have already been built between the U.S. and Mexico.
The wall, ostensibly aimed at preventing undocumented immigration from
Mexico to the U.S., has been repeatedly shown to be a dismal failure
at blocking human traffic. But the wall has done far too
good a job at keeping wildlife from traveling through its native
habitat.
Among the species that have
been stymied by the wall are relatively common animals like jackrabbits,
deer, javelinas and mountain lions, and even toads and snakes. Native birds such as quail and
owls have been shown to be unwilling
or unable to fly over the 15- to 20-foot-tall barrier as well. Also
presumably blocked – but much harder to observe, as they are already
so rare – are endangered cats such as the ocelot and jaguar (see Discovery Channel video ). In areas of the Lower Rio Grande
Valley in Texas, U.S. wildlife has even been cut off from the life-sustaining
waters of the Rio Grande.
Conservation groups and wildlife
lovers have pushed for more wildlife- and habitat- friendly border protections,
such as vehicle barriers, remote surveillance, and increased patrols.
Meanwhile, decades of efforts to preserve and restore wildlife corridors between Mexico and the United
States are being undermined or destroyed. (To learn more, check out
photos, videos, blogs, and other materials at the Borderlands
RAVE site from the International League of Conservation Photographers.)
At some point, political realities
will change – as they ultimately did in Eastern Europe – and much
of the U.S.-Mexico wall may be dismantled. (Some can probably never
be brought down, as it has been built directly into protective flood
levees.) But the evidence from the German-Czech
border suggests that the impacts of the wall may last long after the
concrete and steel bars are removed. It will almost certainly be too
late to save the dwindling populations of the rarest species, and it
may continue to affect even the most common.
Recent action in Congress suggests that the appetite to
spend billions of dollars to construct a wall that does more harm than
good may be dwindling. But there are no plans yet to dismantle the 650
miles of wall that have already been built.
There is some hope offered
as well by the Wall Street Journal article on the European wall:
‘…there are signs
that cross-border traffic may pick up. “Our data showed that the
animals behaved very traditionally,” says Mr. Sustr. “The
former border was in the minds of the animals. But some of the young
animals are searching for new territory. They are more and more deleting
the border behavior that was there before.”’
Let’s hope that North America’s
wildlife won’t have to wait 20 years or more for similar good news.
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