bighorn

March 7 Bighorn Project Status Update

Updated - Posted - Charles Miles

Project Status Update: February 3 – February 16, 2014 – Habitat improvements due to fires in the Santa Catalina Mountains have been talked about as an important advantage for the Bighorn Sheep when compared to the habitat during their population decline and eventual extirpation. This update has the first notes I have seen on this project acknowledging what seems true from hiking in the range – that important sections of the Big Horn Sheep Management Area have not experienced a major fire in quite sometime and that some areas have grown back aggressively after the fires:

Several reports following the Bullock and Aspen fires suggested they had helped to remove the brushy component and opened up the habitat so that sheep would be able to better elude predation. For instance, one study indicated that 24% of the available sheep habitat had burned and that habitats would be more suitable for sheep post-fire than they were in the early 1990s. Although the Bullock and Aspen fires in 2002 and 2003 helped to open some of the landscape, as time passes, natural fuels are once again beginning to accumulate in some areas where past fire intensity may have been low. In addition, there is a large area of sheep habitat that has not burned in several years, and biologists believe this area would benefit from the reintroduction of fire.

Arizona bighorn project criticized for deaths: An article about the project with a few pro/con quotes – perhaps the most interesting point is not about this particular reintroduction but the suggestion that without translocation efforts Bighorns would be well below current population levels.

Deaths – 2 Bighorn Sheep and 1 Mountain Lion

Updated - Posted - Charles Miles

1 ewe (killed by a mountain lion), 1 ram (cause under investigation) and 1 Mountain Lion killed recently – the Mountain Lion was believed to have killed the ewe – Game and Fish confirms deaths of 2 bighorn sheep, 1 mountain lion
2 more bighorn sheep die in mountains near Tucson


Game and Fish officials believe handful of lions responsible for Bighorn Sheep deaths – as with a number of previous articles Game and Fish continues to emphasizes how conservative the approach to Mountain Lions in the Santa Catalina Mountains is…

February 21 Bighorn Sheep Project Status Update

Updated - Posted - Charles Miles
Project Status Update: February 3 – February 16, 2014 – Some notes from this update:
  • “The Arizona Game and Fish Department is implementing an Advisory Committee recommendation to collapse the previous administrative mountain lion removal boundary and re-focus removal efforts to a more defined area.” – A map in the update shows the new area which is (very roughly) west of the highway and south of Charouleau Gap. Also covered here: New Bighorn boundaries set in the Catalinas.
  • “In recent weeks, several solitary sheep have banded together in larger groups.” – The update notes that research has indicated that sheep are safer in larger groups.
  • “Biologists anticipate that several more ewes will become mothers in the near future.” – There have been 3 lambs reported so far