Colorado will begin to cull Cougars to assist the growth of the Big Gypsum Valley Bighorn Sheep population---As we have discussed over the past few days, this "cull" will likely help the Bighorns grow their numbers in the short term.......but Colorado will have to keep killing Cougars forever or else the population gains mounted by the Sheep will slip away once predator control ceases...............Rarely does anyone mention that various human induced habitat alteration due to mining, gas and oil exploration, ranching as well as drought are all factors that have put the Bighorns in desperate straits............allowing them to be more vulnerable to Lion predation

New West Feature

In Colorado, Hunting Mountain Lions to Help Desert Bighorns

Wildlife officers are trying to help a herd of bighorn sheep in Colorado's Big Gypsum Valley for the third time since 1990. This time, officers will increase the herd's odds by hunting any mountain lions that kill a sheep.

By Kylee Perez

The Big Gypsum Valley in Western Colorado is like a miniature Grand Canyon, says Dan Larkin, former president of the Rocky Mountain Bighorn Society. The winding river cuts through the massive, sheer red-sandstone cliffs dotted with juniper trees and other shrubs.The harsh landscape fosters a less-than-successful herd of desert bighorn sheep, Colorado's state mammal, and one that has captivated photographers, hunters, hikers and biologists alike.  The herd at Big Gypsum Valley—which, until last month, had only 15 animals—has struggled since it was introduced by the Colorado Division of Wildlife in 1990.  As a result, wildlife officers recently decided to augment the herd with 15 animals taken from a larger, more successful herd of 150 animals. This is the third time the DOW has introduced new sheep to the Big Gypsum Valley since 1990.  On Dec. 16, wildlife officers captured 15 desert bighorn sheep from the Upper Dolores Canyon in San Miguel County and moved them to be with the existing herd of 15 animals in the Big Gypsum Valley in Montrose County the next day. Wildlife officials hope doubling the size of the smaller herd will increase its chances at success.

The DOW believes that past attempts at creating a successful herd in this area were thwarted by mountain lion predation. This time, the herd will be receive additional help from the DOW in the form of predator control. Wildlife officers will monitor local mountain lions to ensure they aren't preying on any of the sheep in the area. Those that do will be killed.  Although the mountain lion population in Western Colorado is very robust, said Joe Lewandowski, spokesperson for the Colorado Division of Wildlife, the Big Gypsum Valley is not prime mountain lion habitat because it doesn't support a large population of mule deer, the lions' primary food source.

If a mountain lion does kill a sheep, it will hide the carcass and continually come back to it to feed. Wildlife officers can use the signal from the radio collar that each sheep wears to find the lion and be sure they only kill the culprit animal. The predator control policy will be in place for the next two years. "It's not something we go into lightly," said Lewandowski said of hunting mountain lions that prey on the herd. "If we (aren't) sure we're not just going to go out there and start looking for lions."  These steps are necessary to help the herd increase its population because the bighorn sheep are not a particularly prolific species like deer. Their dry habitat makes it difficult to produce a lot of offspring who will then compete for limited resources.  "Over the century, we've had lots of encroachment into wildlife habitat and animals were hunted and trapped," Lewandowski said. "We want to give these critters a good fighting chance."