JERUSALEM — Israeli army spotters have a new job: counting wild animals on both sides of the West Bank separation barrier to help naturalists assess the problems caused by the huge structure, an army publication reported.
The spotters, whose usual duties involve looking for infiltrators from the West Bank, logged 500 sightings of animals along the northern section of the barrier in recent weeks, according to the current issue of the soldiers’ weekly Bamahaneh.
Gathering information for the Israeli Society for the Preservation of Nature, the spotters logged appearances of deer, wild boars, porcupines and hedgehogs, the weekly reported.
Nature experts have warned that the barrier, made up of concrete walls, trenches and barbed wire, could interfere with migration patterns of wild animals in the area. They have proposed making small openings in the barrier to allow animals to cross.
Israel started building the barrier in 2001 after a wave of Palestinian suicide bombers infiltrated from the West Bank and blew themselves up in Israeli cities. Palestinians complain the barrier is built on West Bank land, cutting some villagers off from their fields and services.
The barrier is about two-thirds completed.
The Associated Press
