Experts Say Putting Water Out For Wild Animals Won’t Keep Them From City

Under a lush cottonwood tree in the distance is one of two natural water springs in the Franklin Mountain State Park.

“They’re capable of sustaining large wildlife like mountain lions,” said Dr. Cesar Mendez, the superintendent at Franklin Mountain State Park.

But water is not enough, causing some wildlife to venture into human-populated areas.

Outrage continues over the shooting of a mountain lion last week. Now, two other animal sightings have a lot of people asking if there’s a way to provide water for wildlife in the Franklin Mountains.

ABC-7’s newsroom has been flooded with emails on the subject.

“I wonder if the state Parks & Wildlife put water to help the animals in the mountain,” Rich wrote in an email. “If they don’t, they should. That’s why the animals are coming down.”

With more than 100 days of no rain, extreme drought conditions are causing wildlife to look for water and food anywhere they can.

But an expert ABC-7 spoke with explains the fix is more complex than just putting barrels of water out.

The lack of rain is causing a domino effect. Without rain, plants can’t grow. Without plants, small animals can’t eat. And without small animals, large predators such as bobcats and mountain lions can’t eat, either.

That is forcing those predators to look for food in the city.

“When you don’t have water, there’s no food,” said Mendez said.

He says there’s a lot more to our recent, unexpected visits than just thirsty animals, “If they don’t have prey, even if they have water, then they have to move to places where they can find this prey.”

Challenged by limited resources, Mendez says park officials try to minimize the effects of a dry climate, “Even if we put water holes there’s only going to be a few species that benefit.”

A small, man-made watering hole is a favorite spot for birds.

“We don’t see havalina that often, as we used to see, but again that’s the drought effect,” said Mendez.

Familiar with the Chihuahuan Desert for more than 15 years, Mendez says the mountain lion shot and killed while roaming downtown El Paso could have come from anywhere — not just the Franklin’s.

“It might be following the river. The Rio Grande is a natural corridor, it could be coming from Chihuahua, from east Chihuahua, from east Texas, or it could be coming from New Mexico. It could have been coming from Juarez. We don’t know if it was a pet,” said Mendez.

Mendez says he welcomes any ideas and help from volunteers.

He can be reached at 566-6441.