National Park Service Launches Desert Bighorn Sheep Study Across Three Utah National Parks, Targeting 75 Captures
The National Park Service announced on November 4 that it has begun a study of desert bighorn sheep — covering disease, population and habitat — across Arches, Canyonlands and Capitol Reef national parks and surrounding lands, in partnership with the Bureau of Land Management, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and Utah State University.
Fieldwork runs from early November through December and includes helicopter aerial surveys and capture-and-release operations; visitors may see or hear helicopters during the work. Crews will net-gun sheep from helicopters, process and sample the animals, fit them with GPS collars and release them, gathering data on health, abundance, distribution and movement. Project documents set capture targets of 30 sheep in Canyonlands, 15 in Arches and 30 in Capitol Reef. The principal investigators are Kezia Manlove and Tayler LaSharr of Utah State University.
The Park Service said monitoring at this level has not been carried out in Canyonlands and Arches since 2008, or in Capitol Reef since the late 1990s to early 2000s. Lena Pace, superintendent of the Southeast Utah Group (Arches and Canyonlands), said the cooperative study will help managers understand the status of the herds.
According to the NPS page for Canyonlands, the park is home to roughly 350 desert bighorn sheep. Data from the study may also support management steps such as seasonal closures around lambing grounds.
Source: National Park Service
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：一只沙漠大角羊（NPS 摄于 Lake Mead National Recreation Area）。来源：U.S. National Park Service, Photo: Andrew Cattoir，NPGallery，Public domain。 / Photo: A desert bighorn sheep (NPS photo at Lake Mead National Recreation Area). Source: U.S. National Park Service, Photo: Andrew Cattoir, NPGallery, Public domain.
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