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ALPINE, Texas -- If there^s comfort in counting sheep, state wildlife biologists should be sleeping soundly. Transporting bighorn sheep. ©TPW Nearly a half-century after the desert bighorn sheep -- one of North America^s most impressive and sought after big game animals -- was all but exterminated from the Trans Pecos, Texas Parks and Wildlife biologists have taken a giant step toward restoring the majestic animals to their historic range. Using helicopter capture crews to locate and trap the elusive bighorn sheep along the rims and canyons that make up the Elephant Mountain Wildlife Management Area, wildlife biologists are moving some 45 animals to suitable sheep habitat two hours away at the Black Gap WMA. Black Gap is just north of Big Bend National Park, near the Mexican border. TPW officials hope the move, effectively doubling the population of bighorns at Black Gap, will soon give the state two herds of brood stock for future expansion efforts. "This is an exciting time for Texas," said Clay Brewer, bighorn sheep program coordinator with TPW. "We^re restoring a native species to its original habitat in Texas -- an animal that was erased from the landscape less than 50 years ago." By mid-day Tuesday, Dec. 12, the relocation operation literally had netted more than two dozen animals, as crews fired rocket-propelled nets to capture sheep, which were blindfolded and hobbled to minimize stress, and flown back to waiting teams of biologists and volunteers. Once back on the ground, the sheep were thoroughly inspected by a veterinarian, treated and fitted with radio telemetry tracking collars and loaded onto trailers for the two-hour ride to Black Gap, where they were released in a remote area that currently holds a population of about 50 bighorns. Like clockwork, capture crews continued to bring in up to five sheep per trip Wednesday morning, Dec. 13, until the goal was reached. By mid-afternoon, all 45 sheep had been relocated to Black Gap WMA. Despite the risks involved in capturing and moving these extremely wild animals, officials reported no sheep were injured during the operation, and the successful techniques will serve as a model for planning similar projects. "We know Black Gap can support a bighorn population two to three times this size. Our goal is to restore bighorns to those ranges in the Trans Pecos that still have suitable sheep habitat," Brewer said. "We^re fortunate in West Texas to still have large tracts of habitat and the support of a lot of landowners and volunteers, like the Texas Bighorn Society." Through landowner and Texas Bighorn Society support, remote mountains in the Trans Pecos have been enhanced to meet the basic needs of the desert bighorn, including construction of almost three-dozen manmade water guzzlers that capture the area^s limited rainfall to provide year-round water sources for sheep and other wildlife. Releasing a bighorn sheep. ©TPW In addition, hunter funded initiatives such as the Texas Grand Slam and the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration federal aid program have provided money for TPW research and management efforts, including the radio telemetry tracking study that will allow biologists to follow sheep at Elephant Mountain and Black Gap WMAs. Information from these research projects will help researchers identify future stocking sites and enhance the prospects of a healthy future for bighorns in Texas. The desert bighorn sheep was once prominent in the remote mountains of West Texas, with populations of more than 1,500 animals in the late 1800s. Unregulated hunting and changing land use caused numbers to decline to an estimated 35 sheep by 1945. The last reported sighting of a native bighorn sheep occurred in October 1958 on Sierra Diablo WMA. Biologists believe the last native Texas bighorns were gone by the early 1960s. Protective measures for bighorn sheep began as early as 1903 with the enactment of a hunting prohibition. Additional protection measures occurred in 1945 with the establishment of the Sierra Diablo WMA as a sanctuary for the remaining Texas bighorns. Restoration efforts began in 1954 with the development of a cooperative agreement among state and federal wildlife agencies and private conservation groups. Since then, 410 bighorn sheep have been relocated to seven mountain ranges in Texas. Of these, 146 sheep were moved from other states and Mexico. In addition, 264 in-state desert bighorns were relocated between 1971 and 1997. The latest effort is the largest single in-state relocation project.

Uploaded: 12/18/2000