Reintroducing Bighorn Sheep into the Catalinas

[Ptah]

by Jim Gressinger {not Ptah} on Dec. 03, 2012

I ran into some pretty exciting news, or at least I thought so, and I thought I
would share. This video, shot November 15 at Catalina State Park was posted by
Arizona State Parks. Richard Boyer, Park Volunteer, will give another talk at 4pm
December 30 at the Trailhead Picnic Area.

<video at link>

Bighorn sheep occurred naturally in the Santa Catalina Mountain ecosystem
until the late 1990′s. Their presence in the Catalinas has been well documented
since the mid 1880’s. Catalina bighorn sheep herd population peaked in the late
1970’s and early-mid 1980’s then declined and eventually disappeared in the
late 1990’s. No final determination has been made for the decline and disappearance
of the sheep.

The Desert BigHorn Sheep Society is working to change that.

Restoration efforts will begin November of 2013 by relocating 30 sheep from
herds in southwest Arizona. Each sheep will be fitted with a GPS satellite collar
and monitored daily. The population objective over 3 years is 110 sheep.

http://tucsoncitizen.com/southern-arizona-guide/2012/12/03/reintroducing-bighorn-sheep-into-the-catalinas/

[Kali]

1. Hope they aren't just sacrificing them for an experiment.

Not determining why they declined so quickly kind of worries me.

It seemed logical that the urban growth in the NW foothills was a major contributor to the loss of the sheep at that end of the Catalinas.

They do tend to re-establish OK if conditions are good so maybe it will work.

[Ptah]

2. I'm pretty sure the urban encroachment was the cause.

Any that survive this attempt will be in a big 'zoo', not thriving naturally.

[1StrongBlackMan]

3. I know this'll sound inappropriate; but ...

Maybe the re-introduction will keep my dogs that much more safe, as the cats won't have to travel to my back yard looking for food.

[Wellstone ruled]

4. Hey,those wonderful Sheep can from our

Mountains,so damn dry here that BLM and NFS had to move about 270 or they will Parish from lack of feed and water. Just hope that this time the Feds vaccinate these guys against the Virus's that are carried in domestic sheep. The last time there was a big move like this,several of the sheep died from a virus contracted from eating grasses grazed by domestic sheep.