NAF News

THOUGHTS ABOUT BIGHORN SHEEP

Recently I read in the Reno Gazette-Journal (September 19, 2005 issue) that a threatened herd of bighorn sheep in the Sierra's is on the road to recovery but may be impeded by interaction with domestic sheep, especially where disease might be involved. The paper does not say if this herd resulted from relatively recent releases or has always been there. This writer has some knowledge of Nevada (and close adjacent areas) bighorn sheep history and other facets of their lives as a result of 11 years as an employee (1955-'66) of the old Nevada Fish and Game Commission, now the Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW).

Evidence exists indicating there were "considerably more" bighorn sheep in Nevada when first caucasion or Euro-American explorers entered the Great Basin country than at present or for that matter the last 80 years. The settlement of the State beginning in the 1850's along with the build up of domestic livestock on the State's ranges which probably peaked in the mid -1880's saw a decline in the wild sheep numbers. It is believed that by the mid-1920's there were no more wild sheep roughly north of US 50 with only Nelson's bighorn or desert bighorns found in the roughest and most remote areas south of the highway. All legal hunting of native bighorn was stopped in 1917 and did not resume again until 1952, evidence that bighorn at least north of US 50 were few or none. Apparently the wild sheep co-existed with the domestic livestock for almost five decades but finally succumbed. What is Nevada's bighorn story?

In "Following the Nevada Wildlife Trail, A History of Nevada Wildlife and Wildlife Management," a book written by me, Dave Mathis, and published in 1997, I wrote, "It was estimated that by the late 1950's, the total bighorn population in the State was around 2,000. The theory is that the wild sheep suffered from the introduction of domestic sheep primarily because they had no immunity to domestic sheep diseases and because of direct competition for preferred feed." I will explain how these conclusions were reached. In the end a perspective may be provided about the sheep leading to a greater understanding of a complex issue. It is my intention to cover the domestic, wild sheep disease association, competition between the two for preferred feeds, and the possibility of crossbreeding between wild and domestic sheep.

Historically, based on Journals of earliest Great Basin explorers and pioneers, Nevada did not abound in wildlife, particularly ungulates or hoofed animals. Summing up their observations it appears there were almost no elk in the State, few deer and more antelope and bighorn sheep. Hall's "Mammals Of Nevada," considered the bible on the subject when I worked for Fish and Game, listed three sub-species of bighorn as being endemic when the first caucasion explorers arrived. These included the Rocky Mountain, California, and desert bighorn. How large was this native wild sheep population? There were and are no scientific records, no surveys, nothing except observations by early explorers, pioneers and settlers available to answer the question. There is no way of comparing or quantifying these observations for any mathematical or computer model estimation. We can merely study them and come up with as logical and reasonable a guess as possible. That guess which is the same as most wildilfe professionals make to my knowledge is "considerly more than at present," meaning more than we believe occupied the State from the early 1900's to now. What does "considerably more" mean - 10 times as many, 20 times more? NO! It means considerably more - that's all. It is this considerably more that went to "not many" that we write about.

Perusing journals of early Nevada explorers we encounter more reflections of hardship and hunger than tales of successful hunts. Jedediah Strong Smith, Rocky Mountain Fur Co., on an 1826-27 expedition across southern and central Nevada indicates hunting was very poor when he writes, (talking about his return to Utah's Salt Lake or his headquarters) "When we arrived at the Salt Lake we had but one horse and one mule remaining which were so feeble and poor that they could scarce carry the little camp equipage which I had along. The balance of my horses I was compelled to eat." Milton Sublette, a Peter Skene Ogden lieutenant led a 45 man trapping expedition into Nevada in 1833. (Ogden, believed to be the first caucasion to explore Nevada, led trapping forays into the State 1825-'29.) Thompson and West History of Nevada provides an account of Sublette's trip. It notes that hunters finding no wild game were forced to eat the flesh of the beaver they caught and "-----as they passed over the country were forced to subsist upon ants, crickets, parched mocassins (their shoes boiled down) and puddings made from blood, taking a pint at a time from their almost famished animals (horses and mules)." Added to this could be the travails of other Nevada early travelers such as the Bonneville- Walker party of 1833, the Bartleson-Bidwell party, 1841, the Fremont expedition of 1843-44 and, of course, the Donner party. Generally, the feeling among many Americans is that the country pre-caucasion was a wildife paradise with herds of wild animals abundant. Maybe they didn't include Nevada in these assessments. The reports of these Great Basin adventurers provides a more complete picture.

While we say at the time of exploration there were considerably more bighorn than later this was no solace to these explorers. Populations of the wild sheep which could have been five or six times that of today still did not mean they were abundant and that hunting them was easy. If for example we had 25,000 bighorn many more than presently it was still a "low density" population. This meant that hunters for these early parties might go into adjacent mountain ranges and find a band of sheep in a canyon they chose. If this was the case they probably killed some. However they might go up 10 or more canyons and never find any and likely did not have the time for extended hunts. In high density wildlife populations such as those of the high plains of Nebraska and Wyoming most times they could shoot game - buffalo or antelope- right from the trails they were traveling and not even have to hunt.

Among early mentions of bighorn in Nevada are those of Zenas Leonard clerk of the Bonneville-Walker party. He wrote "We killed our last Buffalo on the 12 of August on the west side of Salt Lake -------we found the country (writing now about Nevada) very poor an almost without game except for some goats (read bighorn sheep), and rabbits." He also writes about seeing antelope. John C. Fremont, 1843-44, notes "both bighorn sheep and antelope had been seen and killed but the scarcity of game made itself felt---." A story in the Reese River Reveille newspaper of September 9, 1865 tells of a hunting party, that of Charles T. Gayle, spotting mountain sheep in the headwaters of the Reese River. Hugh Martin born in Elko County 1873 recalled "hundreds of native bighorn" during the 1880s on Tennessee, Pine and Copper Mountains in Elko County and along the Bruneau River. Dr. E. C Secor, Elko MD, said wild sheep were numerous in the Ruby Mountains in the 1870's. Bancroft, in his history of Colorado,Wyoming and Nevada published in the 1880's mentions bighorn among native Nevada wildlife. August Rohr, forest ranger in the Ruby Mountains reports he saw three head there in 1921. Hall in "Mammals of Nevada" noted what seem to be the last sightings of bighorn in both the Ruby's and Santa Rosa Range of Humboldt County. This was around that 1921 date. Adding to the above information, especially considering wild sheep historic distribution in Nevada, are numerous Native American Petroglyphs which depict bighorns. Also, many Nevada ranches in the early 1900's had bighorn sheep horns nailed on posts, barns, and fences.

The importance of these observations are not that they provide us population densities but that they chart distribution of the bighorns in the State. They tell us that there were sheep not only north of U.S. Highway 50 but in some numbers. Mountain ranges such as the Rubys, Jarbidge, and the Independence in Elko County; Snake, Schellcreek, and Egan of White Pine; Santa Rosas in Humboldt; and others in North Washoe had bighorn populations. Thus we infer "considerably more" than that of the 1920's. It is believed that Rocky Mountain bighorns were found in the White Pine and Elko mountain ranges with the California variety in the Santa Rosas west to the Sierras. Desert sheep occupied ranges in the southern part of the State.

What does logic tell us about the likely reasons for decline in the Nevada wild sheep numbers especially during the late 1800's and early 1900's? The greatest impact by far on the existing Great Basin ecology during this time was the coming of settlers to Nevada who turned out thousand of cattle and sheep on Nevada ranges. How many? Again we have to rely on estimations in that the United States Department of Agriculture's Statistical Reporting Service, or earlier versions of it, really did not become functional in Nevada until about 1913. An 1884 estimation of cattle in Nevada and we have no idea of its reliability was 700,000 head. Clel Georgetta and some other early Nevada livestock historians mention from three to four million sheep. These included herds of Nevada sheepmen plus itinerant bands that could originate in any of the surrounding states It wasn't untill 1934 and the passage of the Taylor Grazing Act that the itinerant bands could be prevented from grazing public lands in Nevada.

There seems to be little doubt that the build up of domestic livestock on Nevada ranges initially shocked and stressed native wildife. I personally believe that such wildlife today is much better adapted to the domestic livestock than was the case initially. It is difficult to say in the bighorns case whether it was competition for food and space or disease which was their greatest nemesis. Bighorns, prior to the advent of the domestic herds had no competitors in Nevada for food or space. Deer, the few elk, and antelope did not occupy the best sheep habitat.

Currently, die offs of wild sheep often are traced to Pasteurella Pneumonia and many believe that this is a result, early on, of the wild sheep's association with domestic sheep. The pasturella pathogen it is said has been carried for well over 100 years and by generations of wild ones. It can be passed on from ewes harboring it to their lambs. However, reliable information is available which extends our knowledge about, and presents us with questions relative to the disease issue. In the mid- 1970's, U.S. Fish and Wildlife personnel at the Desert National Wildlife Range (a refuge for desert bighorns near Las Vegas) contacted Dr. Robert Taylor, veterinarian at UNR's College of Agriculture. They reported lamb crops (that is number of lambs per 100 ewes) at the Refuge's Corn Creek Headquarters were not what they hoped for and that lamb survival was low. A small herd of desert bighorns are kept at Corn Creek for visitor viewing. They asked Taylor to examine the lambs to determine what ailed them. His diagnosis, pasteurella pneumonia. However these lambs and many generations that preceded them both at Corn Creek and the Refuge had no association with domestic sheep. One can only speculate as to whether or not incidence of the pneumonia would have been greater had their been interaction with domestic herds.

Dr. Anette Rink, Supervisor for the Animal Disease and Food Safety Laboratory, Nevada State Department of Agriculture says, "Pasteurella is an opportunistic pathogen ready to attack when an animal, for any cause, may be weakened or stressed. Stress acts against the immune system." Wild animals, in this case bighorns, are constantly faced with stress situations. These include competition for food and space whether it may be from an outside source (domestic sheep), other wildlife or from to many of their own species. Other stress provokers are predation (probably in the bighorns case mountain lion and interestingly golden eagles on lambs); hard cold and deep snow winters; normal winters with severe spring cold, snow and rain; drought; hotter than normal summers; internal and external parasites; very young or very old ages; wildfire; the rut or mating season; hunting and other human impacts and encroachments; and accidents or wounds. If, though, the bighorns are able to get sufficient food, water and shelter they may successfully ward off many of these threats.

Dr. Rink noted that a year ago she checked two bighorn rams that had died in the Santa Rosa Range area of Humboldt County. Both had died of the pasteurella bacteria. Both also had heavy infestations of the internal parasite lung worm. "They were doomed," she said, "in that the lung worm would have killed them had not pasteurella sooner. The majority of the lung lesions in these animals was caused by chronic verminous pneumonia which had destroyed more than half the lung tissue in both animals." Most, if not all, wildlife play host to internal and external parasites which are not a threat except when the animals are weakened by some other stress factor.

While it is logical that wild sheep were adversly affected by domestic sheep herds it is illogical to assume that North American wildlife pre-caucasion were all healthy and that no bacterial diseases among them existed. I would venture, and I emphasize this is speculation, that Dall sheep in Alaska, Canada's Yukon Territory and adjacent areas have at times suffered pneumonia even though there have never been any domestic sheep association. Deer, elk, and antelope deaths due to pasteurella pneumonia have occurred but because these species exist in much larger numbers than wild sheep there has been little concern.

Bighorn sheep in North America occupy a specific niche in the country's terrain. They are adapted to the highest, most precipitous and rugged cliff and rock mass mountainous areas. This doesn't mean that they don't utilize gentler land areas at times. However, their ability to negotiate the extreme land forms is their escape advantage. Most other wildlife and domestic livestock, with the exception of domestic sheep (and even they would not tackle some of that terrain), just would not utilize such areas - way too steep and precipitous. Thus historically the wild sheep had no competitors for food and space until domestic sheep came along. It can be speculated that the competition for preferred feeds and habitat by domestic herds was as much a problem as the passing of disease pathogens.

Wild sheep breeding with domestic sheep is also viewed as a problem when both occupy the same country. This has and does happen. There have been some old photos and news reports of such crossings. It is doubtful, though, that this is a frequent occurrence. In fact it probably is just the opposite or seldom in the wilds. Wildlife species preserve the integrity of their kind by breeding with their own kind. Two closely related species of North American deer, the mule deer and white tail occupy overlapping habitat in such states as Montana, Wyoming and Colorado. Yet, we seldom see in the wilds evidence of the two cross breeding. Mule deer bucks breed mule deer does and whitetail bucks mate with their own kind. If this were not the case and they frequently crossed we would see all kinds of weird looking mixes. Occassionally they may cross in the wilds and wildlife biologists in experiments have crossed the two in captivity. Where domestic and wild sheep are concerned, Dr. Rink says, and this writer concurs, we should hear more about it and pictures of such crosses should be more plentiful if the crosses are commonplace. There might even be a news story or two. Personally, and I associate quite often with ranchers, I have never had a rancher tell me this happened with his sheep.

Early on in this article, I mentioned that all legal hunting of bighorn sheep in Nevada was closed in 1917 and not resumed until 1952. Why was it started again in '52? First over this 35 year closure bighorn populations in Nevada did not increase but rather stabilized or in some cases decreased. The old Nevada Fish and Game Commission (now NDOW) reasoned that hunting often causes a stimulation in breeding brought about by the drive to preserve the species in what is a "fight back" response. Secondly they believed that by allowing a limited, non threatening number of sheep tags, they would gain a better idea of sheep distribution and sheep condition in Nevada. Hunters mean more "eyes" into the back country and the sheep they bag indicate the health and condition of the herd. Sheep numbers today far exceed what they were back in 1952. Much of this is due to sheep releases by NDOW over the past 25 years. Both Rocky Mountain and California bighorns have been re-established in northern Nevada and the desert variety has been re-introduced in a number of south central and southern Nevada locations. Most if not all releases of desert bighorns have been sheep trapped in southern Nevada.

Earlier we talked about estimated numbers of cattle and domestic sheep in the state during the late 1800's and early 1900's. These figures today have changed significantly and are much more reliable than those historic estimates. As of 2004, the latest for which I have data, there were 510,000 cattle in Nevada about average since 1913 when the United States Department of Agriculture, Statistical Reporting Service began gathering such information and 75,000 sheep - a far cry from those estimates of three to four million. More, the 75,000 sheep includes all sheep in the state even though some may be in farm flocks that spend their entire existance on private land, or lambs on feed. Thus the number of sheep actually using public lands is quite a bit less than the 75,000 figure. Consequently, domestic sheep herds are no longer found (and haven't been for years) in many Nevada mountainous areas.

It would seem that there is not clear cut evidence today of what might be health or other results of interaction between domestic and wild sheep. We would hope that all parties involved would avoid what could be injustices and the loss of generations of effort and contribution by sheepmen without a solid and scientific base. We likewise want to see our wild herds prosper. Its up to good men of good faith. - 30

This Nevada Desert Bighorn ram is a fine representative of the species. The ram's horns are full curl with a flair at the tips. Ordinarily, desert sheep rams broom thier horn tips (wear them down) so that they have little or no flair. This is a so called trophy animal.

Desert bighorn rams and ewes forage on a high mountain ridge in what is typical habitat for them. This kind of country is where they have the advantage and feel safest.

This writer's son, Chris, looks above to the high peaks ahead and the sorrel mare "Ma" eyeballs with him. Dad's mount is looking for a tasty trail snack. The valley can be seen two or three thousand feet below. Horses are one of the best ways to access areas where the wild sheep may be seen. Better obervations wlll probably come when the horse is tied up and the rider proceeds climbing on foot.

The rock mass, precipitous terrain in the foreground is the kind of surroundings the sheep prefer. Below are aspen patches and meadows where bighorn may descend to feed and water but they will likely not linger long.

This is a rare photo of a bighorn ram (Dad), a ewe (Mom) and a lamb (Junior). Odds probably exceed a thousand to one against getting a similar picture without other sheep in close proximity.