Sweetwater Rocks Bighorn Reintroduction

[BigHornRam]

I would like to see Wyoming make this happen.

Sweetwater Rocks Initiative - Return to the Rocks Sweetwater Rocks Initiative

Visit our page to learn about the Sweetwater Rocks Initiative which aims to Restore Sheep to the Rocks of Wyoming %

www.wyomingwildsheep.org

 

[littlebighorn]

My biggest concern with any reintroduction is domestic sheep contact.
That said the Ferris herd seems to be thriving and expanding those genetics would be an awesome addition to Wyoming's Bighorn population.
I too would love to see it happen.
Keep us posted if it does.

 

[wytex]

They say no domestic sheep allotments within the area, that is good.
Hope they get some of those Montana genetics for the herd, either from other parts of Wyoming where they were released or from Montana. That really helped the sheep in our neck of the woods.

 

[littlebighorn]

"The current proposal calls for between 25 to 50 Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, sourced from the neighboring Ferris-Seminoe herd."
I don't know what the genetic source of that herd is but they seem to harvest some very good rams in that unit.

 

[BigHornRam]

"The current proposal calls for between 25 to 50 Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, sourced from the neighboring Ferris-Seminoe herd."
I don't know what the genetic source of that herd is but they seem to harvest some very good rams in that unit.

Genetics are a mixture of some Oregon California bighorns and Montana breaks bighorn.

Bighorn Sheep Transplanted to Seminoe Mountains

Bighorn Sheep Transplanted to Seminoe Mountains

www.sweetwaternow.com

 

[BigHornRam]

Bighorn balancing: Sheep shipped from Lovell area to Ferris/Seminoe Mountains - Powell Tribune

So — with the help of a helicopter crew, a couple trailers and a slew of personnel and volunteers — the Wyoming Game and Fish Department recently did the logical thing: capturing 24 sheep in the Devil Canyon area and shuttling 22 of them south …

www.powelltribune.com

This is an interesting part in this article. We continue to learn about what works and what doesn't when transplanting bighorns.

"Decades ago, when the Game and Fish started really getting serious about trying to re-establish bighorn sheep in the Ferris-Seminoe area, the department brought in a couple hundred sheep from the Dubios area, said Hiatt, the Sinclair-based biologist. But wildlife managers came to realize that the sheep from Dubois, accustomed to living at 11,000 feet in elevation, gave birth to their lambs in June. That’s a problem in the Ferris-Seminoe mountains, which sit a much lower elevation of 7,000 to 8,000 feet above sea level, and where moisture and vegetation levels are sinking in June.

“In this country, we’re almost always brown by the Fourth of July,” Hiatt said. “So by the time those lambs were a month old, mom was on a diet that barely allowed her to maintain herself, much less produce extra milk.”

He explained that, “the sheep (from Dubois) lasted, but their lambs, we were lucky if we got one or two lambs a year (that survived), so the herd slowly dwindled away as the sheep got older and older and eventually disappeared.”

Enter then, the lower-elevation sheep, which have their lambs at the end of April and first part of May.

“So they’ve got all of May to look forward to to keep the milk production up — and hopefully a little bit into June,” Hiatt said."

 

[BigHornRam]

Unfortunately the source herd from Devil Canyon is facing some dieoff issues right now. Seems like when the herds start getting beyond the areas carrying capacity, these out breaks become common.

Devil Canyon sheep herd faces second die-off

LOVELL — A strain of lethal pneumonia has re-emerged in Devil Canyon bighorn sheep, after at least 45 sheep were killed in the first outbreak.

www.jhnewsandguide.com

 

[BigHornRam]

This is an interesting paragraph in the original link. We have made mistakes in the past, and hopefully we learn from these mistakes.

"Sweetwater Rocks is no stranger to these restoration efforts. The first attempt was in 1944, with the relocation of seven desert bighorns from Nevada. “That was a mistake,” says Kevin Hurley, a former wildlife biologist for the Wyoming Fish and Game and Fish Department (WGFD) and the vice president for conservation at the Wild Sheep Foundation. Although this area of Wyoming can be considered the high desert, these species of bighorn were not adapted to our cold temperatures and higher elevations, and the animals quickly died off. A herd of 20 Rocky Mountain bighorns fared better, growing their numbers to between 40 and 50 by the 1960s, but began to dwindle through the 70s due to transplanting high elevation sheep not conditioned for the low elevation phenology. By 1980, the last of them were gone."

 

[littlebighorn]

Those are all great points BigHornRam.
I love the links.
It definitely makes great sense to take transplant stock from the F-S herd that is doing well in a similar environment. I hope it happens soon.

I'm very saddened to see the Devil's Canyon herd die-off. Unfortunately it only takes one wandering ram to bring Ovi back to the whole bunch.
For sure wild sheep are fragile but man I think they are cool!

 

[BigHornRam]

The more we learn, the less we truly understand when it comes to the pathogens that plague bighorn sheep. Hoping that the upcoming projects by MSU and MT FWP lead to some key knowledge that we can utilize in the future. The dieoffs do make bighorn restoration difficult and frustrating. Gotta think positive however!

 

[El Guapo]

Seems like when the herds start getting beyond the areas carrying capacity, these out breaks become common

Exactly. Hence the ewe/lamb harvest in the Ferris-Seminoe-Bennett herd units this year, and the Gros Ventres for the last couple of years.