Wild Sheep Restoration: Strengthening New Mexico’s Bighorn Populations

Definition: Extirpation means the complete removal or eradication of something, whether it’s a surgical removal of an organ or tissue, or the local extinction of a species from a specific geographic area. 

Restoring and sustaining wild sheep populations is at the heart of New Mexico’s conservation mission. Science has long shown that when bighorn populations decline to just a few individuals, they face an elevated risk of extirpation. To prevent this in New Mexico’s herd, NMDGF periodically captures and relocates bighorn sheep from larger populations to smaller ones to boost demographics and genetic diversity.

Over the span of 11 days, 172 total sheep were captured by a skilled helicopter crew and brought to Department staff for field processing, which included a full body health assessment, biological samples taken for disease monitoring and genetic diversity assessment. All Bighorn sheep were handled with the utmost care and proper animal handling techniques.

Because of these capture efforts, NMDGF is able to augment two Desert Bighorn populations in the Peloncillo and Sacramento mountain ranges. These efforts effectively doubled the size of both subpopulations, providing a critical boost to their genetic diversity and long-term viability. Bighorn captured in the Jemez, Ladrone, and Fra Cristobal mountain ranges were all released near the processing site, allowing biologists to monitor their movement patterns, annual survival rates, and improve annual helicopter survey estimates.

This work would not be possible without the support from hunting license sales, auction and raffle tag funds, and partnerships with state, federal, private landowners, and collaborating researchers. From mountain peaks to desert canyons, these coordinated efforts represent the very frontlines of wild sheep conservation, putting and keeping wild sheep on the mountain for generations to come.