A one-of-a-kind dinosaur footprint site near Newcastle was vandalized by someone who would have gotten permission to do what they did \u2014 if they had asked.<\/p>\n
Kristen Stauffer of the \u201cPaleo Park\u201d Zerbst Ranch discovered the vandalism this week. Someone poured a large amount of blue silicone into one of the many dinosaur tracks exposed on a 67-million-year-old slab of rock on the Zerbst Ranch.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was shell-shocked,\u201d Stauffer told Cowboy State Daily. \u201cNobody was authorized to be out there. Whoever did it was trespassing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Setting aside the enormous scientific value of the fossil, Stauffer was \u201cheartbroken\u201d by the blatant disregard for her family\u2019s history. The Zerbst Trackway was found by her father, Leonard, and has enormous personal significance to her and her family.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese tracks are part of our family’s story,\u201d she said. \u201cWe have spent years protecting them because we believed people would love them as much as we do. We opened our gates because we wanted to share something truly rare, not because we wanted pieces of it taken away.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Kristen](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Dinosaur-site-vandalized-IMG_8211-7.11.26.jpeg\")
Kristen Stauffer on the one-of-a-kind Zerbst Trackway on the Zerbst “Paleo Park” Ranch near Newcastle. Stauffer has been taking tours to the track site, found by her father Leonard, for years. That’s why she was “shell-shocked” that someone trespassed on and damaged a rare hadrosaur footprint. (Andrew Rossi, Cowboy State Daily)Not The First Time<\/p>\n
The Zerbst Trackway is one of the most extraordinary fossils of its type. It contains trace fossils from multiple dinosaurs and other animals that lived in Wyoming during the Late Cretaceous period.<\/p>\n
Identified trace fossils include the footprints of the ostrich-like Struthiomimus, the tail swish of a crocodile, and one of the few known footprints from Tyrannosaurus.<\/p>\n
The crown jewels of the Zerbst Trackway are the footprints of Saurexallopus zerbsti, a large bird-like caenagnathid or \u201coviraptor,\u201d named in honor of the Zerbst family.<\/p>\n
The vandalized footprint was left by a large hadrosaur. Stauffer had an idea why somebody might find it interesting.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt definitely has impressions of the pads of the dinosaur\u2019s foot, along with a toe drag,\u201d she said. \u201cAll of the molding materials were around that print, and someone had poured blue molding material into it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Molding and casting are processes used to make replicas of fossils, preferably without damaging the original.<\/p>\n
Whoever was responsible for the failed mold was covertly trying to get a copy of the hadrosaur footprint. Their intent was to leave the original there and make off with a replica, even if they had to trespass\u00a0to get it.<\/p>\n
They were also presumably hoping to find a way to reproduce and profit from a rare dinosaur fossil without sharing the proceeds with the Zerbst Family.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s theft. <\/p>\n
Stauffer was, at least, relieved they didn\u2019t try to chisel the footprint out of the rock. It would be extremely difficult to do, but that hasn\u2019t stopped people.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we realized the Saurexallopus tracks were from two dinosaurs walking side by side, someone came and tried to take one of them out of the foot-thick rock,\u201d she said. \u201cThey destroyed it. It was one of the only ones in the world, and they destroyed it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stauffer isn\u2019t sure who tried to make a mold of the hadrosaur track or when they attempted to do it. She said she believes it had to have been within the last month.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s truly baffling to Stauffer is that she wouldn\u2019t be opposed to someone wanting to make a mold of the unique dinosaur footprint. If they\u2019d asked, she probably would have said yes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they had come to me and said they had a crazy idea to do a mold of it, I would have wanted to do it,\u201d she said. \u201cI like stuff like that. Let’s do it together. Let\u2019s make this work. But they decided to go the shady way.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Kristen](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Dinosaur-site-vandalized-IMG_8212-7.11.26.jpeg\")
Kristen Stauffer on the one-of-a-kind Zerbst Trackway on the Zerbst “Paleo Park” Ranch near Newcastle. Stauffer has been taking tours to the track site, found by her father Leonard, for years. That’s why she was “shell-shocked” that someone trespassed on and damaged a rare hadrosaur footprint. (Andrew Rossi, Cowboy State Daily)Stealing Statues<\/p>\n
The 7,000-acre Zerbst Ranch has been in the family for five generations. Charles Zerbst homesteaded there in the 1890s, and it\u2019s been their home ever since.<\/p>\n
Stauffer has spent the last year working on a rebrand of \u201cPaleo Park\u201d to honor her family\u2019s legacy while utilizing their ranch to its fullest potential.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’re trying to diversify so dinosaurs aren\u2019t the sole part of our ranch,\u201d she said, \u201cWe\u2019ve had different folks wanting to come out to do yoga and bird-watching retreats, and there\u2019s a lot of interest coming in.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why the timing of this vandalism is especially discouraging. For Stauffer, it feels like a violation of trust after decades of readily welcoming people from all walks of life to enjoy her family\u2019s legacy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the audacity of doing something like that,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s like sneaking into somebody\u2019s yard to make a copy of a statue you really liked. I would never in my life think that I could go into someone’s private place to do something like this.\u201d<\/p>\n
The good news is that the rare hadrosaur footprint doesn\u2019t seem to be permanently damaged, Stauffer said. She had already removed most of the blue silicone that had been abandoned there.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they had done a better job, I probably wouldn’t even know that someone took molds of the tracks,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Leonard Zerbst eagerly invited people to enjoy his ranch and its treasures. Stauffer knows her father would be proud of how the family has kept his legacy alive by bringing school groups and excavation teams from across the country to have a life-changing moment.<\/p>\n
That makes this brazen act all the more upsetting.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you ever stood beside those tracks and felt that moment of wonder, we’re asking people to understand what was lost here,\u201d she said. \u201cTrust was lost. A little bit of hope was lost. And a place we loved sharing with complete strangers suddenly doesn’t feel as safe anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Kristen](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Dinosaur-site-vandalized-IMG_8217-7.11.26.jpeg\")
Kristen Stauffer on the one-of-a-kind Zerbst Trackway on the Zerbst “Paleo Park” Ranch near Newcastle. Stauffer has been taking tours to the track site, found by her father Leonard, for years. That’s why she was “shell-shocked” that someone trespassed on and damaged a rare hadrosaur footprint. (Andrew Rossi, Cowboy State Daily)Changed Before You Leave<\/p>\n
The Zerbsts have been doing two-hour tours of their ranch, including a visit to the Zerbst Trackway, for years. After discovering trespassing, vandalism, and attempted theft, Stauffer decided to close the trackway indefinitely and is questioning whether they should continue offering tours.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe old saying is true: one bad apple really can ruin it for everyone,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re still going to ponder what to do, but we\u2019re going to start implementing things to protect the tracks. They\u2019re too precious.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the ranch is still open to curious minds with genuine intentions.<\/p>\n
The Zerbst Ranch has produced some of the best Late Cretaceous dinosaur fossils ever found. Those include one of the best-preserved Triceratops specimens ever, complete with large patches of skin, and two Edmontosaurus mummies from the newly discovered \u201cmummy zone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to go out and let others go out to do more prospecting,\u201d Stauffer said. \u201cThe idea that there’s another mummy out there somewhere, looking for some air, is exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stauffer\u2019s greatest delight is facilitating someone\u2019s first experience with the prehistoric past, coupled with the legacy of her family\u2019s Wyoming ranch. She described the exhilaration she felt when she helped a group of college kids from California find their first fossil, a stingray tooth.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s funny to sit back and watch the ranch do its magic to them,\u201d she said. \u201cSeeing that look on a kid’s face when they find their first tooth or a fragment of a bone is what makes me happy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the breach of trust, the ranch will remain open to people willing to explore with integrity. According to Stauffer, that\u2019s exactly \u201cwhere Mom and Dad really wanted (the ranch) to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI always (tell visitors) that the ranch will change your life before you leave,\u201d she said. \u201cYou might not know it, you might not realize it, but it will change in a slight way before you leave. And then they\u2019ll say something and realize that the ranch changed them. \u00a0<\/p>\n
“That\u2019s what we want to keep and preserve as best we can.\u201d<\/p>\n