Our Work

Initial restoration of desert bighorn sheep relied heavily on out-of-state sources, but growing populations have produced a surplus of 450 sheep for in-state translocations.

Three major in-state translocations have occurred since 1971. The first two (Dec 2000 and Dec 2010) occurred on Elephant Mountain WMA when 45 bighorns were captured and transplanted to Black Gap WMA and later 46 to the Bofecillos Mountains of Big Bend Ranch State Park.

Up until this point, the Bofecillos Mountains and surrounding ranges had been unoccupied by desert bighorn for over 50 yrs. The third took place in December 2011. This effort marked the largest in-state capture and transplant in Texas bighorn restoration history. A total of 95 bighorns were captured from the Beach, Baylor, and Sierra Diablo Mountains located north of Van Horn, Texas. All bighorns were transplanted to the Bofecillos Mountains of Big Bend Ranch State Park to augment the December 2010 release.

Research will be an important component of all future transplants whenever possible. Research topics investigated will include survival, recruitment, predation, movements, home ranges, and habitat use. Habitat models as well as alternatives to survey methods will be investigated and developed to facilitate the management and restoration of the desert bighorn sheep in Texas.

Today, desert bighorns are coming back to their historic mountain ranges thanks to decades of work by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, various state agencies (including Arizona, Utah, and Nevada), and wildlife conservation groups such as Texas Bighorn Society, Wild Sheep Foundation, and Dallas Safari Club.

Private landowners have always been and continue to be the driving force behind the success of restoration efforts and management of desert bighorn sheep in West Texas.

This is so dated it could just be scrapped, and the information about sources could be rolled in with the history page, once properly attributed.