The Chihuahuan Desert Education Coalition has been an important education partner at the Zoo since 2004 when the group was formed at a meeting of conservation leaders from across El Paso. In response to the group’s efforts to promote biosphere reserves and transboundary conservation that we reported on here earlier, board member Kendra Jones has provided …
Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center Presentation on Zoom planned for Wednesday, March 29, 6:30pm Mountain Time
Mount Livermore (highest peak on the left) as seen from the front entrance to the Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute (CDRI) Nature Center. Mount Livermore is a summit in the Davis Mountains in Jeff Davis County, Texas. It reaches an elevation of 8,378 feet / 2,554 meters, and is the fourth highest and most isolated peak …
Can we realize Roosevelt’s dream for a transboundary conservation area by developing a plan for a sustainable future?
This is a picture Santa Elena Canyon and the Rio Grande with the Santa Elena Canyon Protected Area, Chihuahua, Mexico on the left and Big Bend National Park in Texas on the right. By Rick LoBello, Board Member Background Big Bend National Park was first officially proposed on February 16, 1935 when Texas Senator Morris …
El Paso celebrates Castner Range National Monument
The Chihuahuan Desert Education Coalition (CDEC) is pleased to announce the creation of the Castner Range National Monument in the Franklin Mountains. Over the past twenty years CDEC in collaboration with the El Paso Zoo and Botanical Gardens and thousands of citizens in El Paso and across the country has advocated for the protection of …
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Only in the Chihuahuan Desert: the reticulated gecko
Reticulated gecko By Rick LoBello, Board Member Every year I find one or more geckos under things in my yard or climbing on a wall. For most of us in El Paso if we find a gecko we are more than likely seeing a Mediterranean gecko, an exotic species in the U.S. first reported in …
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Volunteer at the Zoo as a Conservation Ambassador
Conservation Ambassadors help the El Paso Zoo and Botanical Gardens with its mission of celebrating the value of animals and natural resources and in creating opportunities for people to rediscover their connection to nature. The Zoo has a new Chihuahuan Desert Exhibit and the City of El Paso Volunteer Program offers numerous opportunities to engage …
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Chihuahuan Desert Wildlife: Western Screech Owl
By Jacob Croft Western Screech Owl Megascops Kennicotti Status: Least Concerned Size: 7.5-9.8 inches Habitat: Woodlands The Western Screech Owl, looking much like the Eastern Screech Owl, is found in the western US and Mexico. They live here in El Paso, but are not commonly seen. Watch for them in the evenings or early mornings. They are nocturnal …
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Free tailing it up to Carlsbad
Natural entrance to Carlsbad Caverns, home to a maternity colony of Mexican free-tailed bats. By Rick LoBello, Board Member Prior to moving to El Paso my friends used to call me Batman because of my job at Carlsbad Caverns National Park. From 1992 to 2000 I lived in government housing a stone’s throw away from …
Sky Island Fireflies
By Stephen Hummel, Board Member Fireflies are not an insect species commonly associated with the desert. They are typically found in humid, dark, wooded environments typically found in the eastern half of the United States and elsewhere. Relatively few fireflies can be found in the dry conditions of the western United States. One exception is …
Meet your neighbors: who cooks for who?
By Rick LoBello, Board Member Spring is in the air and here in El Paso one of our most vocal resident birds is busy preparing for the breeding season. If you don’t see them when you wake up in the morning you can certainly hear them and this beautiful bird has a very distinctive song. …
Chihuahuan Desert Education Coalition 