You are here

Home » Bighorn Sheep Study Underway At Death Valley National Park

Bighorn Sheep Study Underway At Death Valley National Park

Share
By NPT Staff - December 2nd, 2019
Studies of bighorn sheep are underway at Death Valley National Park/NPS

Studies of bighorn sheep are underway at Death Valley National Park/NPS

National Park Service biologists have questions about desert bighorn sheep in Death Valley National Park: How many sheep are there? How healthy are they? How can they best be protected? Research and monitoring going on now should help provide answers.

Desert bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis nelsoni) range throughout the park, from salt flats to mountain ridges. Bighorn spend most of their time on steep slopes where they feel safe from their primary predator, mountain lions.

The National Park Service is working with California Department of Fish and Wildlife to monitor bighorn in Death Valley. Twenty-one sheep have been fitted with collars that transmit their location every hour via satellite.

In a separate effort, Oregon State University researchers, Dr. Christina Aiello and Dr. Clint Epps, are studying bighorn distribution in and around Death Valley National Park, Mojave National Preserve, and Joshua Tree National Park. Karen Swett Conway and Brian Conway donated grant funding for this landscape-level study via the Conway Science Fellowship.

“The location and health of bighorn herds as well as how they interact with each other across the Mojave Desert can change in response to environmental conditions and human activities that alter their habitat," said Dr. Aiello. "This study will help us better understand where bighorn populations currently occur and how connected they are across this large landscape given the modern challenges of habitat fragmentation and climate change.”

Disease, non-native burros, climate change, gene pool isolation, and vehicles are all risks to bighorn sheep.

A ram was killed by a vehicle on CA-178 near the junction with Greenwater Valley Road on October 27. Three other bighorn sheep have been killed by cars in the park in recent years. Park staff are also concerned about a young female bighorn that has been licking antifreeze from the Dantes View parking lot and approaching cars.

What can visitors do to help? Please report sightings of bighorn sheep in the park at the Visitor Center or online at iNaturalist.org. Most importantly, drive the speed limit. 

Add comment

CAPTCHA

This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.

The Essential RVing Guide

The Essential RVing Guide to the National Parks

The National Parks RVing Guide, aka the Essential RVing Guide To The National Parks, is the definitive guide for RVers seeking information on campgrounds in the National Park System where they can park their rigs. It's available for free for both iPhones and Android models.

This app is packed with RVing specific details on more than 250 campgrounds in more than 70 parks.

You'll also find stories about RVing in the parks, some tips if you've just recently turned into an RVer, and some planning suggestions. A bonus that wasn't in the previous eBook or PDF versions of this guide are feeds of Traveler content: you'll find our latest stories as well as our most recent podcasts just a click away.

So whether you have an iPhone or an Android, download this app and start exploring the campgrounds in the National Park System where you can park your rig.