Examining the Encampment River herd

On the afternoon of February 9, staff and students from Encampment K-12 School joined employees of the Wyoming Game & Fish Department (WGFD) on Finley Hill Road outside Encampment. While it certainly wasn't a school day, the students were all excited to join the WGFD in yet another bighorn sheep capture.

For the past three years, Jordan Seitz has involved his 6th grade and junior high science classes in aiding with the capturing and collaring of bighorn sheep ewes. This process began under former Saratoga Wildlife Biologist Will Schultz and has continued with current Saratoga Wildlife Biologist Teal Cufaude.

"We have done several field trips looking for collared bighorn sheep, learning about radio telemetry and studying bighorn sheep habitat," said Cufaude. "These trips are the perfect time to cultivate a passion for the outdoors, wildlife and conservation. The last two school years that I have been involved with the project, the students have been absolute troopers. We have had them hike through blizzards, up steep hills and down into rugged canyons in search of bighorn sheep and collars."

The current population of the Encampment River bighorn sheep began in 1976 when the WGFD translocated 52 sheep from Whiskey Mountain to the Encampment River. Two additional translocation efforts took place in 1977, with 17 bighorn sheep, and 1989, with 19 bighorn sheep. According to Cufaude, the Encampment River population peaked at 150 in 1982 before the winterkill of 1983, which likely led to the population decline.

"Currently, there are approximately 60 bighorn sheep in the herd. Bighorn sheep face a number of challenges including disease, predation, competition, habitat succession and  human disturbances," Cufaude said. "Managers have struggled to identify the causes of the decline, or to isolate factors that continue to limit population growth in the Encampment River bighorn sheep herd."

"Although there appears to be suitable habitat for the Encampment herd to expand into, this herd hasn't expanded its range or increased in population for many years," said Katie Cheesbrough, Saratoga Terrestrial Habitat Biologist for WGFD.

With such a limited number of sheep in the Encampment River population and it being unclear as to why the herd hasn't increased, some in the Valley have expressed concern about the timing of the captures and possible stress on the animals.

"All efforts are made to ensure the safety and survival of captured individuals. We carefully consider the timing of captures and try to complete bighorn sheep captures between December and mid-March," said Cufaude.

Cufaude added that the WGFD tried to avoid captures during the bighorn sheep breeding season in October and late November as well as within two months of the lambing season, which takes place in mid-May for the Encampment River herd.

"Bighorn sheep are very susceptible to overheating if captured when ambient temperatures are high, so we try to time these captures for months when temperatures are cool or cold," Cufaude said.

On the February 9 capture, 10 bighorn ewes were brought in and either had collars placed on them or had existing collars replaced. Despite the cool weather, the ewes were beginning to overheat. Volunteers and WGFD employees packed snow around the animals and doused them with cold water.

Instead of going into the foothills of the Encampment RIver Valley on foot, the WGFD relies on helicopters and net-guns to capture the ewes.

"This crew uses a helicopter to locate the sheep in their rugged and remote habitat. The pilot positions the helicopter close to the herd and a net gunner shoots a six-foot square net over one of the animals," said Cufaude. "If a bighorn sheep shows signs of excessive exertion during the chase, the crews will abort the chase. Once the bighorn sheep is in the net, it is fitted with a blindfold and hobbled. It is then carefully lifted and delivered to a nearby staging area."

Along with being collared to determine herd movement, habitat selection and resource use, the bighorn sheep are also tested at the staging area. Blood draws are taken to test if the animal is getting enough minerals in its diet. Nasal and tonsil swabs are collected to test for respiratory pathogens. An ear swab is taken for mites that can cause scabies and a fecal sample is taken as it can show the presence of lung and intestinal parasites.

"Having students involved with handling the bighorn sheep during captures and collaring is an added bonus," Cufaude said. "There is something really special about being up close to these animals. I hope these experiences will encourage some of these students to pursue careers in wildlife management, or at least recognize the importance of wildlife conservation."

In addition to the help from Encampment K-12 students, Cufaude added that participation from local landowners was also appreciated. The collars that are used in this project were purchased using Grant-In-Aid funds from the Wyoming Wild Sheep Foundation.

"Over the next few months, I will be updating the students on bighorn sheep movement by sharing with them the location information we are receiving," said Cufaude. "We have even talked about students developing their own research question about the Encampment River bighorn sheep that we could look at answering with the collar and location information."