About Rick

Hello everyone,

Here in El Paso I work at the El Paso Zoo and Botanical Gardens as Education Curator and as the chair of zoo’s conservation committee.  My longtime passion in life has been helping to save endangered species and their related habitats, but like so many people we all change a bit as we get older.  Today as I continue my work at the Zoo I am also expanding my influence and using my leadership skills to help people who are trying to legally migrate to the United States at a shelter near my home in Mexico.   You can learn more about this effort and how you can get involved at TreeofHopes.com

If you like the stories I am posting on my personal blog you can follow with your email.  Over the past two years I have also blogged over 400 times at https://elpasozoo.home.blog.    Every week we are telling stories about wildlife at the Zoo, species we may encounter in our backyards and parks, sharing news about ongoing conservation efforts and more.    When you check us out simply enter your email address in the follow section on the lower right or bottom of your screen.   Your show of support is greatly appreciated as we focus each day on helping wildlife locally, regionally and around the world.

I have worked in the field of conservation education since 1973 when I started my career as Zoological Curator at the Kansas City Museum of History and Science.  For nearly 25 years I worked 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 my main goal has been to help people in El Paso connect with the animals that live there and to encourage them to take specific actions in their personal lives to help the zoo with its mission of saving endangered species.

I’m actively involved with many environmental groups like the Chihuahuan Desert Education Coalition and the Sierra Club.  Whenever I can I volunteer with many other groups including the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition.

In 2016 I encouraged the coalition to move in the direction of asking President Obama to declare the Castner Range of the Franklin Mountains as a National Monument. Several years earlier I crafted the environmental platform for Congressional candidate Beto O’Rourke.

In 2009 I wrote a guidebook for the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International that I recently updated entitled Guide to Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park: Home to Critically Endangered Mountain Gorillas available on Amazon.com.  I have updated the book several times since 2009 and am working on a COVID-era update now.

Today my two most important projects are advocating for the reintroduction of the wolf into the Chihuahuan Desert eco-region and helping to establish the long proposed US Mexico International Park.

How to Contact me:
Email – ricklobello@gmail.com
Phone (915) 474-1456 (text or call)   NOTE – Please email or text with the purpose of your communication and the best time to return your call if I am unavailable.

More About Rick

–Chihuahuan Desert Conference at the El Paso Zoo, July 21, 2019
–It’s time to return the wolf to Texas: Rick LoBello, April 5, 2019
–New Chihuahuan Desert Exhibit at the El Paso Zoo, November 9, 2018
–El Paso Zoo, Big Bend National Park Partner for Wildlife Conservation, October 8, 2018
–Guide to Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park, Home to Critically Endangered Mountain Gorillas, June 1, 2018
–No Park is an Island, May 12, 2018
–Could the Mexican Gray Wolf – Source of Fascination and Hostility – Return to the West Texas Wilds?, April 5, 2018
–El Paso Zoo Connects Urban West Texans to the Desert Ecosystem, March 8, 2018
–Proposed Big Bend International Park – Hands Across the Border Workshop, September 13, 2016
Ten Questions for Zoo Education Curator Rick LoBello, December 31, 2015
–Good morning from Tom May’s Park, July 20, 2015
–Plants of the Chihuahuan Desert, June 12, 2015
–Can we save Franklin Mountains State Park?, March 30, 2015
–El Paso Zoo curator Rick LoBello’s mission is to share his love for animals with students, October 24, 2013
–Join the Greater Big Bend Coalition, July 30, 2013
–Zoo’s Rick LoBello honored, March 6, 2013

I am currently looking for website sponsors for several projects including wildlifeconservationcenter.com and  iloveparks.com.  All donations are welcome.  Click the link below.

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