Bighorn sheep being trapped to create Lincoln County herd

Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2003 | 9:46 a.m.

In an effort to establish a permanent herd of desert bighorn sheep in Lincoln County, the Nevada Division of Wildlife is trapping animals in the Muddy Mountains today.

Once 10 to 15 sheep are captured this morning, the division plans to transfer and release them in the Delamar Mountain Range in Lincoln County, division spokesman Geoff Schneider said Monday.

The sheep will be captured and released in remote mountain areas by a helicopter crew hired by the Wildlife Division, Schneider said.

The sheep will be placed in special containers before shipping them to the Delamar range on Wednesday.

"It is part of an ongoing effort to establish a permanent herd in the Delamar Mountain Range," Schneider said.

In the past six years the Wildlife Division and volunteers have established water tanks known as guzzlers to support the sheep.

"The sheep historically existed in the Delamar Mountains," Schneider said.

The average age of bighorn sheep is about seven years, although a ram in the River Mountains southeast of Las Vegas lived at least 18 years and a ewe in the Last Chance Range survived 19 years.

Desert bighorns, the state animal of Nevada, live in mountain ranges throughout the Southwest, including Nevada, Arizona, southeast California, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Texas and Mexico.

By 1960 the bighorn sheep population in North America had dwindled to roughly between 6,700 and 8,100 animals. Scientists attributed excessive hunting, competition for food and diseases spread by domestic livestock and shrinking water resources to the population's decline.

Since then, however, the population has grown through conservation measures to an estimated 19,000 animals.

Nevada's wildlife managers have combatted poaching and regulated hunting the bighorns the past 40 years, Schneider said. Water tanks have also contributed to the success of the animal.