Capture Recap - Winter 2016

The California Department of Fish & Wildlife (CDFW) put around 90 radio-collars on bighorn throughout the Peninsular Ranges from Palm Springs to the Mexican border in early November. The Institute assisted CDFW for 4 days of capturing and collaring efforts in our study areas from La Quinta to Palm Springs. We are pleased that 7 sheep (5F, 2M) were collared in the San Jacinto Mountains near Palm Springs, 6 ewes were collared in the northern Santa Rosa’s near Rancho Mirage and 12 ewes were collared in the La Quinta area. This capture was much-needed as the number of radio-collared sheep was very low making it difficult to accurately document reproduction, lamb recruitment, cause-specific mortality, herd demographics, and herd health. We’re grateful for another successful capture and look forward to following these newly collared sheep.