Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep are back in Yosemite’s Cathedral Range after over 100 years of absence!
Between March 26 and April 3, 2015 seven ewes were moved to the Laurel Creek area of Sequoia National Park. During this same time period ten ewes and three rams were were moved from the Inyo National Forest and Sequoia National Park and released into the cliff habitat of the Cathedral Range in Yosemite National Park. All migrated sheep are in great condition, with nine of the Cathedral Range ewes pregnant (the single non-pregant ewe is a yearling).
From the National Park Press Release:
A multiagency operation was recently concluded that returned two herds of endangered bighorn sheep to locations in Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), Yosemite, Sequoia, and Kings Canyon National Parks, Inyo National Forest, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, worked together on the complex operation in the Sierra Nevada.