A Mountain Lion to Remember, El Paso, Texas

A Mountain Lion to Remember, El Paso, Texas Facebook Group
 

I was one of thousands of people living in El Paso who were saddened by the tragic death of a mountain lion in downtown El Paso on May 10, 2011.  This facebook group was established to remember that day and to help teach others about this magnificent creature in hopes that our city will someday learn how to share El Paso with native wildlife.

It was a beautiful morning in El Paso on May 10, 2011.  President Obama would soon make his second visit to deliver a speech on immigration at Chamizal National Memorial and the community anticipated his arrival.  Not far away in downtown El Paso a very rare wildlife drama was unfolding at the H & H Car Wash as people were both amazed and afraid at the sight of a full grown mountain lion that had wandered into the building. 

No one knows where this lion came from, but I suspect that during the wee hours of the morning or the previous night when few people were awake she wandered down from the Franklin Mountains.  She was first spotted along the railroad tracks before being seen walking around the car wash.  TV cameras were on hand as the Texas Health Department Veterinarian aimed his tranquilizer dart gun at the big cat as police and other law enforcement officials looked on.  Unfortunately for the lion and this amazing symbol of wilderness in the heart of the city, the tranquilizer was slow to take hold.  As the lion instinctively tried to escape what was obviously a fearful situation, her adrenaline kicked in as she moved away from the threatening danger.  In her last dying act she escaped the confines of the chain link gate that enclosed her inside the car wash when police had no choice but to consider her an immediate danger to any one nearby.  Seconds later she was shot to death.  As the news of the President’s speech spread across the city a second headline filled the air: “Mountain Lion, Shot, Killed at El Paso Car Wash.” 

It has now been five weeks since that day and people are still talking about their concern for wildlife in our city.  Debates continue about what parts of the desert and mountains to develop and what parts to protect for wildlife.  While we go about our everyday lives living in air-conditioned houses and riding in air conditioned cars, mountains lions and other wildlife species struggle to survive the harsh desert terrain where every day they must find food and water.  Many survive completely alone coming together with others of their own species only to breed.  As temperatures soar in the triple digits, few animals move around during the heat of the day.  Every individual that survives the harsh environment which sometimes includes having to cross busy highways like Loop 375 and other roadways offers a small measure of hope for the future of their kind.   

If they can survive what nature has set before them and what we as humanity has added to the mix, then there is hope for them and for us.  But if the world becomes unsafe for wildlife, it certainly will be less safe for people.  For their fate is our fate, their survival is our survival, their hope our hope.

Rick LoBello, June 16, 2011