'Devastating': bulldozers plough through Big Bend national park as Trump's border work pushes ahead

Footage filmed by activists shows bulldozers working at the mouth of Big Bend National Park's Santa Elena Canyon as the Trump administration's multibillion-dollar smart wall expansion on the US-Mexico border pushes ahead, according to The Guardian. The images alarmed conservationists who see the work as a threat to Texas's largest and most-visited national park.

Santa Elena Canyon is among the park's most recognisable landmarks, where the Rio Grande slices between towering limestone walls, and the surrounding desert is prized for its open space and wildlife. Conservationists say the machinery and the barrier construction could damage fragile terrain and disturb animals in a place cherished for its solitude.

What to watch now is how much of the work falls inside the park's boundaries, whether legal challenges slow the project, and how the National Park Service balances border security with its duty to protect the land.