Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) biologists conducted aerial surveys in September 2003 and January 2004 in the southern Santa Rosa Mountains of Humboldt County and found that bighorn sheep numbers there had dropped from 80 bighorn sheep (observed during the September survey) to 54 animals early this year. Four animals, including two dead sheep found by biologists and two very sick animals that were put down, were taken in for necropsy. Another eight bighorn sheep were sampled for disease January 7-8. Laboratory results are still pending.
"We know we have lost some animals, and we've initiated surveys and sampling efforts to fully assess the problem," said Gregg Tanner, NDOW Game Bureau Chief.
Estray (loose) domestic sheep were reported to have been spotted recently in the area, and NDOW, in cooperation with the Nevada Department of Agriculture, removed one estray domestic sheep from the Sawtooth Mountain area in the south Santa Rosas. In the past, interactions between domestic sheep and wild bighorn sheep have been known to spread disease to bighorn sheep.
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