About 45 Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep rounded up in the past few days on the slopes of Wheeler Peak near Taos Ski Valley are on the way to establish a new herd in the Jemez Mountains. The helicopter and netting operation took place Monday through Wednesday when teams from the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish left as early as 5 a.m. to scramble up mountain slopes to a location where the sheep were netted. “It went really well,” said Game and Fish wildlife biologist Elise Goldstein. “The animals were cooperative. They went under the net so we could drop it,” she said. “Some years they are more willing to come under the net than others.” Once netted, the sheep were airlifted to a staging area where their health was checked before they were loaded on trailers for a ride to the Jemez. All the animals are in good health and none was injured, said Goldstein. She explained that bighorn sheep crave salt and salt licks normally left for the animals were withheld before their capture, and “right before we trap, we put a little salt out.” The captured sheep have already found their way to freedom. “We have had at least one release every day,” said Goldstein. The sheep have been released in historic bighorn sheep habitat near Cochiti Canyon in the Santa Fe National Forest for a specific reason, said Goldstein. It was there that the 2011 Las Conchas Fire burned about 150,000 acres and changed the landscape so it is now more friendly to bighorn sheep...more
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This article seems to indicate the Game and Fish Department is salting sheep on a regular basis in Wilderness areas. When this was previously done it led to damage of the ecosystem at each salt lick and the potential damage to the Bighorn Sheep by congregating them at these licks. Natural licks are present in all soil locations and providing salt is a decision without scientific basis. Previous trap bait was apple mash which works better than salt. The New Game and Fish personnel are book and computer bound lacking little practical knowledge of wildlife management.
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