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Game and Fish release bighorn sheep near Space Museum
ALAMOGORDO – A herd of about 40 bighorn sheep were released into the Sacramento Mountains behind the New Mexico Museum of Space History in an effort to reintroduce the species to the area this weekend.
The transplantation of the sheep was orchestrated by the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish (NMDGF), who released around 20 sheep each day, said NMDGF conservation officer Andrew Armendariz.
Around 100 members of the public and wildlife enthusiasts attended the releases on Saturday and Sunday and formed wings alongside the sheep trailers to help usher the sheep into the mountains. Guests were asked to keep their phones quiet and speak in whispers as to not spook the sheep as they exited.
Once the doors were opened, the sheep rushed out and stumbled in brief confusion before darting quickly out into the hills. On Saturday, the sheep quickly formed a line and followed one another, while on Sunday the sheep were slightly less organized. On both days, the sheep were barely visible on distant hills under two minutes later.
The sheep population introduced into the Sacramento Mountains was made up of ewes and rams of various sizes and ages, Armendariz said.
The bighorn sheep were taken from herds located in the San Andreas National Wildlife Refuge and the White Sands Missile Range, NMDGF spokeswoman Alexa Henry said.
“The goals are to reestablish desert bighorn sheep in a mountain range they have been absent from for nearly a century, and also expand the geographic range of the desert bighorn sheep and their population,” Henry said. “This will bring them back to a range they historically occupied.”
The Department has been reestablishing both Rocky Mountain and desert bighorn sheep populations for decades across the state, Henry said.
The Sacramento Mountains' release was the first release of entirely new desert bighorn population since 1992, she said.
“It’s our ultimate goal to have a self-sustaining population, meaning the sheep that we introduce (this weekend) will repopulate and expand their range from where they’re being released,” Armendariz said. "They'll disperse right now and over time they'll catch each others' wind and scent and gather back up and become a herd as they find their sustainable geographical area on the mountain."
The release of the bighorn into the Sacramento Mountains was approved by the State Game Commission in 2013, and the desert bighorn sheep population is finally numerous enough that some can be transplanted to the area, Henry said.
According to NMDGF statistics, the population of desert bighorn sheep has grown from around 240 in 2003 to around 840 by 2014. Around 578 bighorn sheep have been transplanted since 1979, figures show, but this is the first time they have been moved to the Sacramento Mountains.
This weekend’s release into the Sacramento Mountains could be supplemented by future sheep releases depending on how well they fare, Henry said.
Armendariz said the sheep are captured by helicopter.
“A net gun, like a big shotgun, sends out a weighted net and they get tangled up," he said. "A ground-capturing crew hobbles them and will cover their eyes to limit the amount of stress they are put through. They’re helicoptered to a capture site. Once they’re there, they’re weighed, blood samples are taken, their internal temperatures, they’re sexed, and they are also prepped and sized for radio collars and ear tags."
The new sheep population will be monitored via radio and GPS, with a new round of sheep possible in around two years if the current transplantation is a success, Armendariz said. NMDGF will also be killing mountain lions in the area in an effort to balance the populations, he said.
Armendariz said that hunting the sheep might be possible in the future, though at this point he isn't sure how permits to hunt sheep would be issued.
"If we have our target herd size of 40, in about 6-8 years we hope that that population will double in size," he said. "If everything goes as planned and we (only) have the mortalities that we expect, which is typically about 15 percent mortality rate, and we're able to sustain (the population), there will be a hunt-able population at that point."
Armendariz asked that if members of the public find a dead sheep, they leave it alone so that it's death can be investigated by the NMDGF.
"And please don't touch or take the tracking equipment – we will find it," he said.
Space Museum staff said they are looking forward to their newest neighbors.
“It will be interesting to see bighorn sheep from the Museum,” Museum spokeswoman Cathy Harper said.