Endangered sheep dies after getting entangled in razor wire at the border, biologist says
Key takeaways
- Photos and a video Aiello provided show bladed wire snaking around the decomposing animal’s neck and curved horns, as well as the front legs, in a desert landscape dotted with boulders.
- “It’s frustrating and sad but at the same time expected,” Aiello said shortly after her discovery. “Because we literally said that this was the risk, this was likely to happen, and our concerns were kind of ignored.”
- The decomposing body of an adult male Peninsular bighorn sheep was found entangled in razor wire along the U.S.-Mexico border in Imperial County’s Jacumba Wildnerness.
Bighorn sheep roam Skull Valley, where razor wire has been laid near the U.S.-Mexico border in the Jacumba Wilderness. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times) By Lila Seidman Staff Writer Follow June 3, 2026 4:43 PM PT 6 min Click here to listen to this article Share via Close extra sharing options Email Facebook X Linked In Threads Reddit Whats App Copy Link URL Copied! Print 0:00 0:00 1x This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here.
A Peninsular bighorn sheep appears to have died after getting tangled in razor wire installed earlier this year on the California-Mexico border, realizing the fears of wildlife advocates that the security barrier would harm the endangered animals.
On Wednesday morning, Christina Aiello, a wildlife biologist with the Wildlands Network, a conservation group, came across the body of an adult male bighorn embedded in the wire while she was hiking in Imperial County’s rugged Jacumba Wilderness.