Peninsular Bighorn Sheep

By 

Dylan Landon

Who Are We Dealing With Here?

http://www.bighorninstitute.org/endangered.html

             The Peninsular Bighorn Sheep is a subspecies of Desert Bighorn living in the Peninsular Ranges in San Diego, Riverside, and Imperial Counties. From light brown to dark grey The Peninsular Bighorn Sheep have a variety of fur colors. They also have some very distinct features, including large curved horns for butting, and hooves for climbing mountain terrain. Besides their physical distinctiveness, the sheep are known to be herbivore, K-selected, climbing, prey animals. The male Bighorns are called "rams" and the females are "ewes".

https://www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/Bighorn/images/bighorn_CA.pdf

          The Peninsular Bighorn Sheep has some unique habitat needs. Because they are avid climbers, they dwell in the steeper mountain 

terrain of Southern California. The Bighorns use their skill at maneuvering over rugged terrain to escape potential predators such as mountain lions. The highlands also offer larger boulders or cliffs for them to find protection in from heat or snow. Melting snow often produces a reliable water resource for them throughout the drier seasons.

            So what’s going on?

            On March 18^th 1998, the Peninsular Bighorn Sheep was listed on the Endangered Species Act as endangered. The major problem for the sheep is habitat fragmentation. What they need is a large area where they can dwell mainly in upper parts of mountains, but travel down valleys and flat lands for water and more accessible foliage. What they have now is strips of highways and freeways shattering their migratory area. The habitat fragmentation also causes them to become preyed upon more effortlessly. With the space for them to run or hide limited by infrastructure and urban development, they run out of places to go.

https://www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/Bighorn/Desert/Peninsular/

            How Have Things Changed?

https://www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/Bighorn/Desert/Peninsular/

            According to the Center for Biological Diversity, almost two million bighorns were thriving throughout North America. Today however there is an estimated population of just 70,000 in the entire continent. With estimated as few as 334 of the animals being in the Peninsular ranges. Where there used to be several thousand, today there is only a few hundred. It is wretched to think that this devastating decline is chiefly caused by human actions. Something to keep in mind is that the development that dwindled these populations down to what they are today, still not only exists, but also continues to grow.

            Is There Something You Could Do?         
 

            The Bighorns need our help. In the future the primary effort is in trying to attain and recover more habitat for them. More protected land without human caused fragmentation will result in an increase in their population sizes. Additional land will provide safer migration, an increase in food sources, additional shelter areas, and likely easier access to water. In the meantime, wildlife restoration biologists agree that overseeing the adult populations will be the most positively influential to population sizes.

http://www.kenpapai.com/travels/coachella2004.html

            There is only a faint chance of delisting by 2025 because not all the criteria is being met for the Peninsular Bighorn Sheep’s recovery. It is possible that it could take numerous decades before their populations reach full recovery. So what can we do? Because they are so elusive and it is difficult for an individual to alter an entire habitat, our efforts should be put to supporting the organizations with the number and power to make a quicker change. An example would be if you were to volunteer or donate to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Peninsular Desert Bighorn Sheep Program.

-Fun Facts About Peninsular Bighorn Sheep-

                            ~ Provided by "The Nature Conservancy"

• Extreme eyesight: Bighorns see better than most mammals—their vision is about eight times more powerful than that of humans. They can spot a person walking in the desert more than a mile away.
• The battle of the horns: Rams often compete for ewes by participating in head-butting contests. They can charge each other at speeds of more than 20 mph, and when their horns crash it produces a sound that can be heard more than a mile away. These clashes may last as long as 20 hours!
• With rings come wisdom: The age of a bighorn can be determined by counting the rings on its horns—one year for each ring.
• Those hardheaded males: Male sheep horns can weigh as much as 30 pounds and can reach up to 33 inches long! Ewes’ horns typically max out at 8–10 inches in length.
• Girl power: Rams live an average of 9–12 years, while ewes edge them out with an average lifespan of 10–14 years.
• Lean machines: With compact and muscular bodies, mature rams in the peninsular ranges weigh more than 200 pounds; mature ewes weigh 105–130 pounds on average.
• They grow up fast: Young lambs can walk and climb as well as their mothers can within a day, and they remain with their mothers for the first year of their lives.

To donate, volunteer, or find out more visit: https://www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/Bighorn/Desert/Peninsular/

Also try the links below each photo and cited at the at the end!

Works Cited

Bighorn Institute. Endangered Peninsular Bighorn Sheep. 9 July 2015. 19 November 2015 <www.bighorninstitute/endangered.html>.

California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Peninsular Desert Bighorn Sheep. 4 March 2004. 19 November 2015 <www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/bighorn/desert/peninsular>.

Center for Biological Diversity. Biological Diversity. 12 June 2009. 13 November 2015 <www.biologicaldiversity.ore/species/mammals/peninsular_bighorn_sheep/#>.

The Nature Conservancy. Peninsular Bighorn Sheep- Our Majestic Desert Icon. 8 May 2012. 18 November 2015 <www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/california/placesweprotect/the-nature-conservancy-in-california-peninsular-bighorn-sheepour-majest.xml>.

U.S, Fish and Wildlife Service. "Recovery Plan for Bighorn Sheep in the Peninsular Ranges, California." 25 October 2000. Environmental Conservation Online System. Esther Rubin. 7 November 2015 <ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/001025.pdf>.