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Border wall construction through Organ Pipe Cactus national monument, a Unesco biosphere reserve in Arizona’s Sonoran desert. Prieto says: “My goal in this life is to protect nature and wild animals through my photography. I’m trying to show what is happening in the hope of having a positive influence on people.”
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A javelina, also known as a skunk pig, at the border in Gran Desierto de Altar in the Sonoran desert. So far, large parts of the border structure are still permeable, but new wall segments consist of barriers that are nine metres wide with steel beams set only 10cm apart – too narrow for most animals to get through.
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The border wall that is being built to replace the existing barrier at Gran Desierto de Altar. The Trump administration continues to extend the US-Mexican border wall, ignoring warnings about the threat to protected habitats and border communities.
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A bird’s eye view of the border wall construction at Gran Desierto de Altar.
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There are already more than 650 miles of infrastructure along the border between Mexico and the US, including this section at Tijuana. These walls and fences cut through fragile ecosystems, separating areas populated by more than 1,500 plants and animal species, 93 of them listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable.
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A camera trap captures two wild turkeys as they cross the fence that separates Arizona from Sonora. A more solid wall will affect not only the movements of mammals but also that of some bird species such as pygmy owls and wild turkeys.
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A coyote looks through the bars of the border fence at Coronado National Memorial Park in Arizona.
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The border wall seen from above near Naco, Arizona.
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A mountain lion jumping the vehicle fence at San Bernardino. Apex predators are among the first species to disappear when humans tear natural landscapes apart.
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A young mountain lion crossing the border at San Bernardino.
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The border wall at Coronado National Memorial Park.
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A rattlesnake near the San Pedro river.
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A bobcat that has just crossed the fence dividing Sonora and Arizona.
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Building a high wall through the middle of a fragile ecosystem will directly affect not only habitats but also the flow of resources such as food, protection and even mating partners. This image shows a dead coyote at the border fence in Arizona.
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The image of a jaguar projected onto a section of the US-Mexican border. In the past century, jaguars have almost vanished from the US, mainly due to loss of suitable habitat and hunting. Building the wall is expected to trigger the extinction of these animals in the US.
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San Bernardino wildlife refuge.
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A roadrunner approaches the border wall at Naco, Arizona. The proposed wall cuts through one of the most diverse and biologically rich regions of North America. The US Fish and Wildlife Service has warned that this impermeable barrier, associated human activities and bright light at night will negatively affect many endangered species.
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The border region is home to several species whose survival depends on an unfragmented ecosystem stretching from the US to Mexico. Thus far, an extended network of national parks, archaeological monuments, as well as wilderness and nature reserves protects important wildlife habitat and cultural resources on both sides of the border. This photo shows a wild hare next to the border wall near San Pedro river in Sonora, Mexico.
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The border wall at Nogales, Arizona.
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This photo from a camera trap shows a bobcat that has just crossed the fence between Sonora and Arizona.
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A javelina that has just migrated from the US to Mexico.
