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Animal activists plan to sue Arizona over border barriers

The Center for Biological Diversity says shipping containers stacked along the Arizona-Mexico border block the migration paths of endangered species.

YUMA, Ariz. — Editor's Note: The above video is from an earlier broadcast.

Animal rights advocates say they intend to sue Arizona after Gov. Doug Ducey approved the stacking of shipping containers along the U.S.-Mexico border. 

The Center for Biological Diversity says the large containers placed near Yuma earlier this year potentially block the migration corridors of endangered species and jeopardize their survival.

“These useless barriers do nothing to stop people from crossing the border, but they’ll stop wildlife in their tracks,” said Robin Silver, the center's co-founder. “Unless Ducey wants his legacy to be driving Arizona’s most iconic animals to extinction, he needs to end this ridiculous waste of taxpayer money.”

The governor approved spending up to $6 million on placing several shipping containers along the border, in an effort to dissuade migrants from entering the country illegally.  

“It’s our responsibility to protect our citizens and law enforcement from this unprecedented crisis," Ducey said last month.  

Federal officials recently informed Ducey's office that his actions were allegedly done without authorization and could be in violation of federal law. Ducey's office has said they're reviewing the federal government's claims. 

The Center for Biological Diversity says they've filed a notice of claim, warning Arizona's officials that the nonprofit intends to sue the state for allegedly violating the Endangered Species Act. 

The nonprofit's notice claims the shipping containers threaten the survival of jaguars and ocelots by obstructing their migration paths. 

"Further deployment of your shipping containers along the Border will obstruct the movement of and will prevent the recovery of endangered jaguar and ocelot," the notice states. 

Wild jaguars once lived throughout the American Southwest before their population started dwindling over the last 150 years. Trail cameras have occasionally captured jaguars moving around southern Arizona.

A small population of ocelots, a medium-sized wildcat, exist in southern Texas but some male ocelots have been seen migrating between Mexico and Arizona, according to Defenders of Wildlife. 

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