Desert Bighorn Sheep at Lake Mead National Recreation Area. (Photo: National Park Service)
Absent intervention by state wildlife officials, Nevada’s state animal, the desert bighorn sheep, may see its herds thinned by starvation because of drought.
“Over the course of the last month and a half this situation has exacerbated,“ NDOW game administrator Shawn Espinosa said during a briefing before the Nevada Wildlife Commission on Friday. “Not unlike the conditions we’ve all seen with Southern California wildfires, Southern Nevada is experiencing a drought situation.”
No measurable rain has fallen in Southern Nevada in the last 200 days. The monsoonal rains that generally drench the ground in late summer never materialized in 2024.
In late December, NDOW and its partners hauled 37,000 gallons of water to 10 existing guzzling stations in the mountains of Southern Nevada.
Bighorn sheep herds have grown in recent years, the result of plentiful rainfall in 2023. The result: Increased competition for resources that are becoming scarce and now reaching emergency levels.
In some places, such as the Muddy Mountains, carrying capacity – the ability of the land to support wildlife – is being exceeded, Espinosa said. Herds in the Arrow, McCullough, and Southern Spotted Mountain Ranges are also among the “worst off” according to NDOW.
“That herd has actually gone beyond its carrying capacity, in fact, so much so that we’re already seeing the water developments that we have filled already start to draw down,” he said. “Vegetation is in really bad shape.”
Desert bighorn sheep are herbivores. Their diet consists of grasses, shrubs, cacti, and acacia.
The department is anticipating hauling additional water to 20 herds next month, but that does nothing to increase forage, officials noted. Dropping hay is not a solution, as bighorn sheep can’t digest it. “It’s too rich,” NDOW’s sheep biologist Mike Cox told the commission.
“If we don’t take action, hundreds of animals will definitely die,” Cox said.
Officials say they are considering “all the tools in the toolbox” to achieve sustainable herds. Options include moving the sheep to other mountain ranges or even other states. The department is also considering emergency hunts to cull the herds.
“It’s going to be a costly venture,” said Cox, who did not provide estimates for the various options. “We’re going to need a lot of help to support these actions.”
“I think an emergency hunt would be the last option we would look at,” said Commissioner Tommy Caviglia of Las Vegas.
The state’s bighorn sheep hunting season is from mid-November to mid-December.
Trapping reforms rejected
Also Friday, the commission rejected an effort to reform its trapping regulations.
A petition submitted by WildEarthGuardians, the Mountain Lion Foundation, and Nevada Wildlife Alliance called for reforms designed to alleviate the suffering of mountain lions and other animals who accidentally become ensnared by traps set for bobcats. It is illegal to trap mountain lions in Nevada.
Advocates for the petition presented horrific photos obtained from NDOW of trapped mountain lions with maimed and infected limbs, claws, and teeth. Some were shown dead, trapped and hanging from trees.
NDOW officials estimated that in the last 47 years, three mountain lions a year have been injured or killed in traps, a number disputed by wildlife advocates, who say 15% of trapped lions examined by NDOW displayed injuries.
Data from the state indicates at least 278 mountain lions were caught in traps that were set for other animals. Eleven of those lions were injured and 24 died.
Raptors, bald eagles and other birds are unintentionally ensnared by traps, the petition advocates argued.
The regulatory tweaks rejected by the commission, include:
- Shortening the duration that trappers must check their traps from 96 hours (four days) to 24 hours.
- Reduce the size of traps allowed for bobcat trapping to potentially lessen the number of mountain lions accidentally trapped;
- Ban the use of drags, which are anchors that allow the animal to move around but can get caught on an object;
- Shorten the length of chains to no more than 30 inches, to prevent animals from climbing trees where they can end up hanging from a limb;
- Require education for trappers, 90% of whom responded to a NDOW survey that they have never received training;
- Improve NDOW’s collection of data related to trapping.
The state, asked by the commission to estimate the number of mountain lions in Nevada, said its own data indicates 1,700 animals, however, officials disputed that number in favor of estimates of 3,300 from other sources.
Opponents, mostly trappers, called the effort “cultural bigotry” and an attempt to end trapping.
“Whenever you see these kinds of highly emotional things, you gotta look at the bigger picture,” State Sen. Ira Hansen told commissioners, adding his first appearance before the commission in 1983 involved trapping regulations. “We’ve had the emotional appeals there. We’ve had the same kind of things you just watched. Yeah, it’s kind of a heart jerk.”
Trappers argued the petition’s primary objective of shortening the interval between trap checks would put them out of business. They noted NDOW’s annual hunting quota for mountain lions has not been reached in a decade, and suggested the species needs to be managed to reduce predation on deer and sheep.
The state spends as much as $900,000 a year killing mountain lions and other predators, so that trophy animals such as deer and bighorn sheep are available for the hunt.
“Sportsmen excel at diversion,” Don Molde, president of the Nevada Wildlife Alliance, said in response to Hansen and other opponents. “‘Look at this. Look over there. Look up there. Do you wear leather shoes? Do you eat meat?’ All of these diversions come into these kinds of discussions.”
Wildlife biologist Will Stolzenburg said Nevada’s “continued acceptance of these preventable casualties ignores the suffering and the collateral damage that these trappings cause.It ignores the vital role that mountain lions play in Nevada’s ecosystems, and it fails to serve the public trust to which they are beholden. These are easily preventable injuries and deaths that we ignore at our own peril. These are easily preventable injuries and deaths that cast a bad light on Nevada trappers.”
Following the meeting Molde said wildlife advocates hope to present the trapping issue, among others, “to a sympathetic legislature and governor when that opportunity arises. The commission must be reformed to be more democratic and reflective of the public’s interest in its wildlife asset.”