by Erin C. Healy - Monday, July 7, 2025
In early February, Go Hunt reported on the dire circumstances facing bighorn sheep in the Las Vegas Valley. By then, more than 200 days had passed with no measurable rainfall. The Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) provided water guzzlers—9,000- to 11,500-gallon tanks, monitored by remote sensing technology and replenished by helicopter—but without rainfall, the vegetation the animals depended on continued to dry up. Personnel at the NDOW’s Southern Region recognized that hundreds of sheep would die off if action weren’t taken. In addition, providing water perpetually would weaken the herd’s ability to thrive in a harsh environment. They agreed to meet one month later to finalize a rescue plan.
Nevada is no stranger to drought and the subspecies of bighorn sheep in the region. Ovis Canadensis nelsoni, or desert bighorn, is well-adapted to arid conditions with sparse vegetation. That being said, in 2021, approximately 1,000 bighorn sheep roamed the region. That number had dropped to 880 individuals in 2023 due to an extended drought, and an aerial survey in September 2024 counted only 442 sheep. Something needed to be done.
In the early 1800s, population estimates for bighorn sheep that spanned from Canada to northern Mexico ranged between 1.5 million and 2 million, but a century later those numbers plummeted to between 15,000 and 25,000. Unregulated hunting, habitat fragmentation from westward expansion and disease transmission from domesticated sheep comprised the trifecta that caused the species decline. As early as the 1930s, though, and through the 1950s, conservation efforts began to mobilize, gaining momentum in the 1970s and culminating with the formation of hunter-led species-specific conservation organizations in the 1980s. Today, a partnering of stakeholders enables major efforts that none would be able to realize on their own.
The follow-up NDOW meeting in March concluded that translocating 150 sheep was essential to lessen the pressure for forage. The agency directed $500,000 toward emergency water hauls and the translocation of the sheep. Outdoor gear company Kuiu—named after the strength and resilience of the Kuiu Nation in Alaska—and the Grand Slam Club/Ovis pooled their resources to add $250,000 to NDOW’s efforts. Then Fraternity of the Desert Bighorn, Nevada Bighorns Unlimited and the Wild Sheep Foundation each pledged $100,000, bringing the working budget to $1.05 million. National Rifle Association Hunters’ Leadership Forum (HLF) Communications Director Karen Mehall Phillips detailed the nature of symbiotic relationships like this—and their benefit to wildlife conservation—in her article “Hunters’ Dollars Sustain Wild Sheep into the Future at the 2024 Sheep Show in Reno.”
To clarify two points, in biology circles “relocation” happens when the sheep, or any species, move from one place to another within their ecoregion on their own, often temporarily, to escape detrimental conditions such as those brought on by a drought. “Translocation” occurs when animals are moved to a new location permanently, either for their survival or to supplement or establish an existing herd. And, although there are three recognized subspecies of bighorn sheep, Ovis canadensis—Rocky Mountain, Sierra Nevada and desert—there are four native North American wild sheep species: Rocky Mountain bighorn, desert bighorn, Dall sheep and Stone sheep, which make up a hunter's grand slam.
Because the sheep in Las Vegas Valley were disease-free, careful consideration needed to be given to where they would go. Most sheep herds are plagued with pneumonia, and biologists didn’t want to put the animals through the stress of being sedated, lassoed, blindfolded, collared, subjected to a blood draw then airlifted to a new locale, only to face contagious illness once they got there. A third of the group went to a fenced-in nursery herd approximately 60 miles northwest of Salt Lake City. This herd is used to translocate sheep into traditional ranges within Utah or to supplement dwindling groups. Another third went to the Cortez Mountains, 70 miles southwest of Elko in north-central Nevada. Historically, sheep roamed this range, so this translocated group will establish a new herd. The final portion went to the Tobin Mountain range south of Winnemucca, Nev. Interestingly, although disease is present in the herd there, it's not being passed to the young, so biologists determined the illness is non-contagious.
Has this been done before? You bet, and this NRA HLF website reported on one of the most successful efforts in 2021: An outbreak of pneumonia spread through Utah’s Antelope Island herd. Unfortunately, in that instance, even if an animal was healthy it potentially could be a carrier, passing the disease on to other individuals, so the entire herd had to be culled. Before long, though, the same organizations that came together in Las Vegas Valley came together then to formulate a restoration plan. Now that same translocated herd serves as a nursery herd for other translocations, similar to the nursery herd outside Salt Lake City where some of the Las Vegas Valley sheep went.
Despite the quick work of the biologists and handlers, one sheep did die in the airlift process. It is not known whether it was the extreme heat on top of limited water and vegetation or the stress and shock of the procedure that caused the death. Although such occurrences are rare and expected, it still saddened the crew. In the end, though, the pressure on the original herd was lessened, and by so doing the state wildlife agency, a businessman-hunter within the outdoor clothing space and his customers, and numerous hunter-led and hunter-filled conservation organizations pooled their resources to ensure that the highest number of bighorns not only survived but thrived, and started new herds. Biologists, conservationists, businessmen and hunters all play pivotal roles in preserving wildlife species, and not just for the trophy on the wall but for the pure grandeur of the sight of the animal in its natural habitat.