Bighorn sheep to be tracked with GPS collars in Wyo.

Associated Press

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

The health and future of the Teton Range bighorn sheep herd in northwest Wyoming will be the subject of a study involving federal and state agencies.

Grand Teton National Park, Bridger-Teton National Forest, Caribou-Targhee National Forest and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department are undertaking the study in cooperation with a graduate student from the Fish and Wildlife Coop Unit at the University of Wyoming, according to a news release issued Tuesday by the agencies.

The Teton Range herd occupies high-elevation habitat that spans across federal lands on the park and forests.

The study will require wildlife managers to capture 20 female bighorns to place GPS collars on them.

The GPS collars are programmed to record vital location data as the animals move across their range throughout the year. After two years, the collars will drop off automatically.

The resulting data should provide biologists detailed information about habitat selection, travel routes, lamb production, survival and other factors that are critical to ensuring the long- term survival of this bighorn population.

Winter is the best time to capture and collar bighorn sheep, and capture operations are scheduled to begin this week.

The Teton Range bighorn sheep population is Wyoming's smallest and most isolated native herd, numbering just 100 to 125 animals.

Federal and state biologists have been concerned for many years about the long-term survival of the herd because of the loss of their historic low-elevation winter range.

The herd now lives year-round at high elevation in the Teton Range, where it is more vulnerable to disease, harsh winter weather and avalanches.

Previous efforts to improve the herd's survival included seasonal closures of sheep winter ranges and the retirement of domestic sheep allotments in forest locations on the western slopes of the Teton Range.

But uncertainties still remain regarding their current distribution and whether bighorn sheep avoid areas of human activity.

20 female bighorns will be captured by wildlife mangers to place GPS collars on them. The collars are programmed to record location as the animals move. The collars drop off after two years.