Elpasonaturally did several posts on the killing of a mountain lion in downtown El Paso. One post highlighted videos that revealed that law enforcement failed to manage the crowd and, in fact, contributed to the chaos which ultimately led to the death of the animal from gun fire.
Watch and see how it is done properly:
Read the full story about the safe tranquilization and removal of a mountain lion from the Colorado University at Boulder campus. Note that from the very beginning, the matter was handled tranquilly and professionally rather than as an hysterical Keystone Cops tragic slapstick as what happened here in El Paso.
We have more details. The EP Times had a front page story this morning. Although it was slanted toward the view that the animal was aggressively dangerous and the policeman's (and TABC agent's) actions were justifiable, it still gave the salient facts: male lion, 4 years old, shot and killed at the H&H Car Wash by an El Paso police officer and a Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission Agent. (What was he doing there? Drunk lion?) The after-killing justification was that shooting the animal beyond the boundaries of the car wash could have meant ricocheting bullets that could have endangered people.
So, if people were in danger, why didn't El Paso police control the crowd? Reportedly there were dozens of people on the scene. See the KTSM video again. A longer video published by KVIA reveals little effort to disburse the crowd. The lion appears hungry, tired . . . and scared but not aggressive.
As officials waited for the first tranquilizer to take effect, crowds gathered hanging off the car wash chain gates trying to get pictures and video of the mountain lion stressing it out further and creating the very public safety hazard that the killing of the lion would later be blamed on. Remember - the videos show little or no effort to disburse the crowd or cordon off the area. It was a carnival atmosphere and the police (and I guess the TABC) did nothing. Nothing. Nothing.
A police officer and a TABC officer shooting their guns not far from a school seems to be a far greater public safety risk than a drugged mountain lion who would have been asleep in just another minute before being gunned down. I still want to know what the heck the TABC agent was doing there - did he have jurisdiction?)
Once again, it was just a few seconds after a second "stick" of tranquilizer hit the cat when a police officer and the TABC agent opened fire. All videos show an animal trying to avoid people and not an animal being aggressive. The words of the State Veterinarian ring true: "Ugh you idiot! No need for this!"
We can only hope that the City of El Paso, its police department, and others will turn to wildlife experts now and develop better ways to deal with similar situations in the future.
Both the police department and the TABC need to be investigated. How are officers trained? Is there a protocol for encountering mountain lions or other wild animals or do we just shoot to kill when wildlife experts are in the process of tranquilizing the animals? What jurisdiction did the TABC have? Why didn't police cordon off the area? So many questions.
At the end of the KVIA video, an officer is being admonished: "Don't talk to a reporter. Get back here." The cover-up had already begun.
Officials believe that police panic led to the death of a mountain lion at H&H Carwash yesterday. Texas Department of Health Veterinarian, Ken Waldrup, had administered a second tranquilizer only 30 seconds before a police officer killed the cat. A minute more and the cat would have been asleep.
Dr. Waldrup is nationally respected and vastly experienced. Tranquilizing an animal - especially one with lots of adrenaline running - must be done carefully so as not to overdose the animal. The animal had exhibited no aggressive behavior toward people even though she had plenty of opportunities to do so. This was not an aggressive animal - but a fearful one. As soon as the lion was murdered, a videotape shows a very angry and distraught, Dr. Waldrup, screaming at the police, "No need for this!"
Here is the link to the KTSM video. If later on I can get the embedding code, I'll put it up on this blog.
Writer, environmental advocate, research scientist and currently Education Curator at the El Paso Zoo, Rick LoBello made this comment:
"Lions need low elevation areas during time of drought to seek water from springs. Here in El Paso we are losing these areas of habitat at an alarming rate, hurting lions and hundreds of other species of wildlife. Perhaps this mountain lion was looking for a drink or simply hungry. I would say she was an adult lion at least 5 years old. All of her life she had done her best to avoid our species. Today she came to know us first hand and now she is no more."
Sierra Club activist, Bill Addington, recalls an incident 3 years ago when a police officer responded to a cat by shooting at it. Fortunately, that shot missed. The attitude then as now is "Shoot it. It's a danger."
I have made an open records request asking the police for the incident report, a copy of documents showing what kind of training the officers receive to deal with this kind of situation, and documents showing the current Mountain Lion Protocol. We shall see what they give me.
