Border Wildlife Study

Our Border Wildlife Study documents the remarkable wildlife community living along 100 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border. We have 60 cameras in an un-walled section of the border between the Patagonia and Huachuca mountains, where species like mountain lions, black bears, porcupines, and pronghorns can still move between Sonora and Arizona. This 30-mile stretch is one of the last remaining un-walled sections of the southern border of Arizona and is a crucial corridor for wildlife. We also have 35 cameras along walled sections of the border near the San Pedro River and San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge, where many wildlife species are impeded by the border barriers. Our study seeks to understand the impacts of border barriers on connectivity and wildlife communities of the borderlands. And we’re pleased to share our results have been published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution.

If you have questions, contact our Wildlife Program Manager Eamon Harrity.

Over the first four years of our study, the cameras have collected more than 100,000 wildlife detections, the bustle of construction vehicles, and changes in wildlife activity over the seasonal extremes of drought and intense monsoon. Today our cameras continue to document wildlife that depend on this fragile landscape for survival.  

The Border Wildlife Study is led by Sky Island Alliance, with support from many volunteers. In the U.S. all cameras are on public land with permitted research access granted by Coronado National Forest, Coronado National Memorial, and San Rafael State Natural Reserve.

Our study is supported by the Wilburforce Foundation, Carroll Petrie Foundation, New York Community Trust, Clif Family Foundation, Brabson Family Foundation, Wilderness Society, Arizona Community Foundation of Cochise, Dr. Scholl Foundation, National Park Service Southwest Border Resource Project Program, and generous individual gifts that keep our cameras running 24/7.