Around 50 'doggy doors' are set to be installed along the US-Mexico border wall to allow for animal migration - but wildlife activists have branded the efforts a 'joke'. 

Contractors are due to install the gaps, roughly sized at eight by eleven inches, in Arizona and California to let animals naturally migrate across the border. 

Wildlife experts, however, have argued that the 'doors' are too small for larger animals, such as sheep, jaguar and deer, and too infrequent for such a long stretch of fence. 

'This has got to be an obscene joke,' Laiken Jordahl, public land and wildlife advocate with Center for Biological Diversity, told the New York Post. 

Activists have expressed concern over the negative affects on biodiversity and animal resources, including water, food and mates, caused by the wall blocking animals from migrating across the border. 

Wildlands Network researchers Christina Aiello and Myles Traphagen recently surveyed the area where new sections of the fence are set to be installed San Diego and Baja California. 

Concerns over the gaps being exploited by migrants looking to illegally cross the border have been raised, while Traphagen claimed that there have been no reports of humans taking advantage of the gaps in the fencing. 

'We’ve documented no humans ever using them,' he told KTSM El Paso News in a Border Report. 'Sometimes you see people looking at them curious about it, but it’s obvious you’re not going to be able to get through this.'

Around 50 'doggie doors' are set to be installed along the US-Mexico border wall in Arizona and California 

Contractors are due to install the openings, roughly sized at eight by eleven inches, to let animals naturally migrate across the border

Wildlife experts have argued that the 'doors' are too small for larger animals, such as sheep, jaguar and deer, and too infrequent for such a long stretch of fence

Traphagen said the openings are 'the size of your doggy door' and despite being a 'proactive' measure for many animals, they will limit bigger animals from migrating. 

The Department of Homeland Security said in a December release that there were a 'record low' number of 'encounters' at the border across November last year. 

The department documented 60,940 total encounters nationwide in October and November, which they claimed was lower than any prior fiscal year to date. Around 245 average apprehensions were recorded per day on the Southwest border.