|
What's Really Important: Border Crossings Rise Could Further Endanger Rare Pronghorn
TUCSON - Biologists are concerned that an increase in migrant traffic on the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge could have deadly consequences for the endangered Sonoran pronghorn.The biologists say they have noticed a spike since early spring during which traffic has gone from a handful of crossers a night to 200. The number of Border Patrol agents in the refuge has doubled. The refuge shares a 60-mile border with Mexico, but the increased migration has been funneled though a single, narrow valley. That's the same area where biologists and volunteers have been installing watering holes and irrigation plots to bolster the native plants that pronghorn graze on. John Hervert, a biologist with Arizona Game and Fish, fears the traffic could scare the deerlike pronghorn away from their best chance for survival. Only 58 adult Sonoran pronghorn survive in the United States today. Posted by: Pappy 2005-07-09 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=123543 |