More information is needed about infiltration rates and routes so that management decisions do not result in additional inadvertent change in infiltration and irreparable damage to the caverns. Damage from Other Human Activity. Given the park's fragile desert environment, various human activities other than cave visitation have damaged the natural landscape. Money is needed to restore disturbed surface areas, including former construction sites, abandoned roads and trails, quarries, garbage dumps, human occupation near water sources, and scars remaining from the burying of utility lines and the removal of structures. External Threats Grazing.
Cattle enter the park frequently in places where fencing is incomplete or in disrepair.
They damage vegetation, impair water quality, and accelerate erosion. Park managers lack the funds to patrol and adequately maintain fencing to keep cattle out of the park. Killing of Mountain Lions. Mountain lions are protected by the National Park Service within the park. However, each year the state of New Mexico and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service kill up to fourteen mountain lions on adjacent lands.