The Result of Texas’s Bighorn Sheep Experiment

Image via LA Times

On an early morning in mid-December, two rams were spotted on the rural mountains of Texas near a steel trailer. Researchers gathered evidence to deem the animals a part of Texas’s bighorn sheep. However, due to reckless hunting and destruction of their desert habitat, these mammals were declared extinct–last seen in 1958. Although their natural habitat remains in Nevada and Arizona, the species remains unsighted in Texas.

As a result of the extreme hunting and harsh conditions of the 1950s to the Bighorn, Texans gathered a herd of Ovis canadensis nelsoni–a subspecies of the bighorn sheep–from Nevada and commenced the beginning of the Texas Bighorn Sheep Experiment. These sheep were raised and monitored on a private ranch in Alpine, only 20 in number in the 1970s.

Two decades later, their number inched to 100 sheep in the ‘90s, as the experiment was deemed a success. Given the necessary food and shelter, Texan officials steadily brought back the bighorn sheep to Texas and proved that the species could thrive if cared for.

Shortly after the experiment, a pack of mountain lions, followed by viral sheep pneumonia, almost wiped out the existing population. Texans were left perplexed and eager to try the experiment again, though they never succeeded in doing so. For the next few decades, the Bighorn sheep had not been sighted in their usual habitat until recently.

That December morning, over one hundred wildlife conservationists, researchers, and volunteers arrived in helicopters to capture the sheep–trapping them in nets and piercing their ears to place a tag. Once captured, they were released 260 miles northwest of their home into a new environment. Officials claim this was to preserve their population, giving them time and space to grow. However, many contradicted their claims and deemed this a selfish act, only to increase Texas’s hunting economy once they steadily grew back.

The sighting in December gave hope to many Texans, altering their mindset and allowing the species to thrive on its own without human intervention. Whatever the result of these mammals, the Texan government opted to give them space for the time being and wait to see when they make their way back to Alpine.