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Desert bighorn sheep populations have trended upward since the 1960s. The upward trend was caused by conservation measures, including habitat preservation. In 1978, desert bighorn sheep populations were estimated at 8,415-9,040. [15] A state-by-state survey published in 1985 estimated the overall US desert bighorn sheep population at 15,980. [16]
A herd of desert bighorn sheep was airlifted off of a Texas mountain by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department as part of conservation efforts in the state.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is working to restore populations of the native desert bighorn sheep and will release some in Franklin Mountains this fall.
The land varies from swamps, Piney Woods in the east, rocky hills and limestone karst in the central Hill Country of the Edwards Plateau, desert in the south and west, mountains in the far west (the Trans-Pecos), and grassland prairie in the north, also known as the Panhandle.
Ash Canyon and its springs create a lush corridor of vegetation amidst the desert of the San Andres mountains. The San Andres National Wildlife Refuge was created to preserve the desert bighorn sheep which was becoming rare in much of its range. At the time of the creation of the refuge, in 1941, the population of desert bighorn sheep was 33.
“I think it’s collectively our responsibility to make sure the bighorns that we have now ... are here to stay,” a Texas Parks and Wildlife volunteer said
The Desert bighorn sheep is the state mammal of Nevada. [51] The Bighorn sheep was featured in the children's book Buford the Little Bighorn (1967) by Bill Peet. The Bighorn sheep named Buford has a huge pair of horns in the Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter, similar to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
The Desert NWR contains six major mountain ranges, including the Sheep Range, with heights up to 10,000 feet (3,000 m) and valleys around 2,500 feet (760 m). Annual rainfall in the range varies from less than four inches (100 mm) in the valleys to over fifteen inches (380 mm) on the mountain peaks.