Conservation Northwest

Keeping the Northwest wild Fall 2017 11 Restoring Wildlife Washington's vulnerable wild sheep: working to conserve the bighorn RESTORING NATIVE WILDLIFE Alaina Kowitz Communications and Outreach Associate, akowitz@conservationnw.org When you think of the animals that Conservation North- west works to protect and restore, what comes to mind? You may have a mental image of wolves, grizzly bears, or fishers. While it is true that our organization has placed emphasis on recovering historically-persecuted and nearly extinct car - nivores in Washington, we're also quietly working to help conserve a different kind of native species, one of the hoofed variety: the bighorn sheep. "Bighorn sheep are an iconic species across the West, and they face real challenges to survival and recovery from small isolated populations in our state and disease," said Conserva - tion Northwest's Conservation Associate Jen Watkins. "ere is no easy answer to their conservation, but we are commit- ted to rolling up our sleeves to work with all stakeholders in identifying solutions that ensure generations to come have a chance to view them in the wild." Not to be confused with mountain goats (which have white coats and spiky horns), the bighorn is the largest wild sheep in North America, sporting fawn-colored coats and dense, tight - ly curled horns that display status and age. A large ram can weigh up over 300 pounds, and his horns up to 30 pounds— more than the weight of all his other bones combined. As with some other ungulate species, rams and ewes typically inhabit separate herds. Rams travel in bachelor groups and fight for mates in the fall by using their horns and thick skulls to crash into each other head-on. About 1,700 mountain bighorns range in herds across parts of Eastern Washington, particularly in southeast Wash - ington and the eastern slopes of the Cascades, but they once numbered at around 1.5 to 2 million throughout the Ameri- can West at the beginning of the 20th century. Today, 70,000 exist throughout the Western states. Historic overhunting, habitat loss and, most significantly, the spread of the pneu- monia pathogen from domestic sheep to wild herds led to the extirpation of bighorns from Washington by the mid-1920s. It is only thanks to reintroduction efforts that our state once again has this native species roaming our landscapes, but the threat of disease still looms over the long-term success of the bighorn. As the West was settled with landowners and livestock ranchers, the onset of domestic sheep grazing in close proxim - ity to wild bighorn herds led to the transfer of the pneumonia bacteria from the former to the latter. Domestic sheep can A bighorn ram, one of the West's most iconic species. Photo: Jeff Goulden carry the pathogen with relatively minor effect, but bighorn sheep, who never evolved immune systems that could effec- tively combat it, were unable to withstand this non-native pathogen. e disease is now the largest threat to bighorn populations in North America. At Conservation Northwest, the conservation and recov - ery of bighorn sheep overlaps several of our program areas. rough our Washington Connected Landscapes Project, we released a scientific analysis showing current needs to main- tain and restore habitat connectivity for bighorn in our state. Our newly expanded Sagelands Heritage Program will also aim to reduce barriers to bighorn movement and promote higher habitat quality. rough dialogue, support, and collaboration with wildlife and land managers, we're doing our part to make Washington a viable home for bighorn sheep for years to come. ere is a lot of work still to do, and Conservation Northwest will con - tinue to advocate for and find solutions to maintain healthy populations of all native wildlife—including bighorn—in our region.

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