Presenter: Jerry Cooke
Commission Agenda Item No. 4
Briefing
Desert Bighorn Sheep Restoration
June 1999
I. Discussion: Historically,
desert bighorn sheep occupied
most of the arid mountain
ranges in West Texas, although
numbers probably were never
very high because of the
harshness of the environment.
A rancher in 1884 estimated
the number of bighorns around
Van Horn at 1,500 animals.
Beginning in the late 19th
century, however, numbers
began to decline as bighorns
were hunted to feed railroad
workers and miners in the
area, and populations continued
to dwindle as much of West
Texas became range for domestic
livestock. In 1903, the
unregulated hunting of bighorns
was prohibited, but by 1941,
the total number of sheep
remaining was estimated
at only 140. In 1945, the
Legislature created the
Sierra Diablo Wildlife Management
Area as a sanctuary for
the last remaining sheep,
but by 1955 the population
consisted of approximately
25 animals. The last known
sighting of native bighorn
sheep in Texas was in 1960.
In 1954, the department
began cooperative efforts
with other entities to restock
bighorns in their former
range. Sixteen sheep were
captured in Arizona and
transplanted to the Black
Gap WMA, where they were
kept in a brood pasture.
By 1971, the captive population
had reached 68 individuals.
The department then began
releases in the Sierra Diablo
Mountains, resulting in
a free-ranging population
now estimated at 180 animals.
Additional stocking operations
using out-of-state sheep
were conducted on Elephant
Mountain WMA and in the
Beach, Baylor, and Delaware
Mountains.
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