Critical Habitat
I have been working away on this educational installation project for over a year now. This is an ongoing series and these are only some of the animals that will be impacted, should a full wall be constructed along the border between the US and Mexico. The range of that wall, from California through Arizona, New Mexico and into Texas, would profoundly effect over 100 currently endangered and threatened flora and fauna. I am working on a full series of these animal portraits. They are so much more than just "collateral" damage.
Many of these species - already endangered - have very limited habitats which will be effected by construction and barriers. In some cases, it will cause inter-breeding among groups that currently cross breed with their counterparts in Mexico - this breeding among differing groups helps keep the species stronger. As for the birds, barrier(s) effect their food sources (which may not be, in and of themselves endangered, but will die off or leave the area) in the case of the raptors (which only live in a very small area and are dependent on the food sources in that area. The pygmy owl doesn't like to leave the undergrowth and only flies about 5' off the ground - and that's under duress and only for very short distances. They will not fly over a wall. The quail are ground-feeders who, again, don't fly very far or very high. The fascinating thing about this project was that I knew about the jaguar, the pronghorn and the bighorn and ocelot and mexican grey wolf - and a couple other mammals, but to discover the vastness of the potential ecological ripples was really jaw-dropping for me once i started researching!
