Translocation of bighorn sheep in Arizona has positive genetic outcomes

Date:  March 6, 2019

Source:  University of Wyoming

Translocation is an important management tool that has been used for more than 50 years to increase bighorn sheep population numbers in Arizona and to restore herds to suitable habitat throughout their historical range. Yet, translocation also can alter the underlying genetic diversity and spatial structure of managed wildlife species in both beneficial and detrimental ways.

A University of Wyoming researcher led a seven-year study to evaluate the long-term impact of translocation actions on bighorn sheep. From 2005-2012, the research group characterized statewide genetic structure and diversity by using microsatellite and mitochondrial DNA data in 16 indigenous and translocated bighorn sheep populations in Arizona.

"Our study showed that it is possible to re-establish bighorn sheep populations without a reduction of gene diversity over a short period and without erosion of ancestral lineage," says Holly Ernest, a UW professor of wildlife genomics and disease ecology, and the Wyoming Excellence Chair in Disease Ecology in the Department of Veterinary Sciences and the Program in Ecology.

Ernest was the senior and corresponding author of a paper, titled "Genetic Outcomes of Translocation of Bighorn Sheep in Arizona," that was published today (March 6) in the Journal of Wildlife Management. The journal publishes manuscripts containing information from original research that contributes to basic wildlife science. Suitable topics include investigations into the biology and ecology of wildlife and their habitats that have direct or indirect implications for wildlife management and conservation.

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Ancient Sheep Poop Reveals Desert Island's Secret Past

By Megan Gannon, News Editor | March 21, 2014 02:31pm ET

On the floor of a cave in a remote desert island in Mexico, scientists stumbled across a mat of urine-hardened poop, dating back to more than 1,500 years ago. The fossilized dung offers surprising evidence that bighorn sheep once lived on the uninhabited island, a new study claims.

Around 500 bighorn sheep can be found on Tiburón Island in the Gulf of California today — but that population descends from a group of animals brought there by conservationists in 1975.

Starting with 16 females and 4 males, conservationists established a population of bighorn sheep to bolster the species' numbers on the mainland. Tiburón Island was chosen because it had little huntingand few human disturbances. It also lacked big predators like mountain lion and disease-transmitting animals like domestic sheep.

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Bighorn sheep went extinct on desert island in Gulf of California

Date:

March 19, 2014

Source:

University of California - Riverside

Summary:

Using ancient DNA analysis and other techniques, a research team led by conservation biologists has determined that bighorn sheep, so named for their massive spiral horns, became extinct on Tiburon Island, a large and mostly uninhabited island just off Sonora, Mexico, in the Gulf of California, sometime in the last millennium -- specifically between the 6th and 19th centuries.

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