The El Paso Zoo is a great place to learn more about wildlife native to the Chihuahuan DesertNovember 19, 2014

One of El Paso’s best kept secrets has been in the works and evolving completely on its own for thousands of years. Today, biologists call this unique eco-region the Chihuahuan Desert, an area of North America covering the surface of our planet for nearly 400,000 square miles. During the Pleistocene, not long after the last ice age, the climate changed dramatically in this part of North America. The ensuing aridity made way for a desert landscape. You and your family and friends can discover it and learn more about this important part of our natural heritage when you visit the El Paso Zoo.

At the Zoo you can see many wildlife species native to the Chihuahuan Desert. The Zoo is uniquely divided into three major geographic areas, Asia, Africa and the Americas. To find species from our desert be sure to spend time in the Americas area. Some of these species are extremely rare including the critically endangered black-footed ferret that lives in the El Paso Water Utilities Discovery Education Center near the Zoo entrance and the Mexican wolf. Although both of these species no longer live in the immediate El Paso area, the Mexican wolf is being returned to the wild in the Gila Wilderness area of western New Mexico and Arizona about 3 hours to the west. To the south a similar reintroduction effort is underway to restore the black-footed ferret to the prairie dog towns of the Janos grasslands region of northern Chihuahua, Mexico.

The prairie dogs living at the Zoo across from the Sea Lion Exhibit are black-tailed prairie dogs. The prairie dog is called a keystone species meaning that it plays a very important role in helping the surrounding natural world stay healthy. Prairie dog burrows help to provide ways for water to go underground. All the burrows they dig combined with their droppings and plant materials they bring in with them help to enrich the soil. The diversity of life in the area also benefits as burrows provide habitat for many other species including Burrowing Owls, gopher snakes and black-footed ferrets. Nearly 200 animal species have been observed in or near prairie dog colonies!

Some of our Chihuahuan Desert species at the Zoo are found in the wilder areas in and around our city including the Western Harris Hawk, Western Cattle Egret, Swainson’s Hawk and the Common Barn Owl. Did you know that Harris Hawks will often hunt in groups like a pack of wolves? We have a female Harris Hawk named Sadie and a male named Horizon. A third Harris Hawk shown during animal encounter programs is called Houdini. Watch for them the next time you visit Rio Bosque Wetlands Park in the lower valley.

Our collared peccaries, also called javelinas, live in the area, but are very rare. This pig-like mammal is relatively new to the Franklin Mountains and may be expanding its range from southern New Mexico and parts of West Texas. Javelinas are found throughout much of the tropical and subtropical Americas, ranging from the Southwestern United States to northern Argentina in South America. They feed on fruits, roots, tubers, palm nuts, grasses, invertebrates and small vertebrates.

Another large mammal can be seen on the road to the Guadalupe Mountains after you pass Hueco Tanks State Park and head towards Carlsbad Caverns. Along the way watch for Mexican pronghorn, a very similar subspecies to the endangered peninsular pronghorns we have living in the Americas Lands Exhibit. Pronghorn have survived in North America since the Pleistocene age (10,000 to 1.8 million years ago) when they lived during the time of now extinct ground sloths, short-faced bears, tapirs, camels and mammoths. More than likely they developed the ability to run at high speeds to avoid the American cheetah, Miracinonyx, another extinct species from this period.

In the Reptile House you can see several species of reptiles and amphibians from the Chihuahuan Desert including a diamond-backed rattlesnake, grey-banded kingsnake, Mexican milksnake, barred tiger salamander, and Woodhouse’s toad.

A stones throw away from the Reptile House the America’s Aviary is also a great place to see some of our Chihuahuan Desert birds. As you walk through the aviary watch for the Roadrunner, Northern Mockingbird, Mourning Dove, and Blue-winged Teal.

One of the rarest Chihuahuan Desert species at the Zoo is found in the Carbonera pupfish. This endangered pupfish is found in the wild only in the Samalayuca Dunes of northern Mexico, 35 miles south of El Paso in the state of Chihuahua. Since 2004, hundreds of baby pupfish have hatched in El Paso Zoo aquariums. In the wild pupfish eat microscopic algae called diatoms and small invertebrates like amphipods, gastropods and ostracods. The El Paso Zoo and the Dallas Zoo and Children’s Aquarium are the only facilities that have this species. Look for them in the spring exhibit inside the El Paso Water Utilities Discovery Education Center.

To learn more about the Chihuahuan Desert check out the website of the Chihuahuan Desert Education Coalition, one of our conservation partner organizations, at chihuahuandesert.org.
Every year CDEC helps Franklin Mountains State Park organize the annual Chihuahuan Desert Fiesta during the third Saturday of September.

About the Author

Rick LoBello has worked in the field of conservation education since 1973 when he started his career as Zoological Curator at the Kansas City Museum of History and Science. He has spent 25 years working as a park ranger and Executive Director at four national parks including Big Bend, Yellowstone, Guadalupe and Carlsbad Caverns National Parks. Since coming to work at the El Paso Zoo in 2002 he has served as Education Curator and has been very active in conservation programs in the region working with organizations like the Chihuahuan Desert Education Coalition and the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition. Over the years his efforts have been honored by Rotary International, the National Park Service and most recently by the Trans Pecos Audubon Society and The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality 2012 Environmental Summit. In 2009 he wrote a guidebook for Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International entitled Guide to Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park: Home to Critically Endangered Mountain Gorillas available on Amazon.com