Bighorn Sheep Research Paper

Words: 431
Pages: 2

For the last 150 years bighorn sheep have decline to less than 2% of their population, by 1930 they were reduced to small remnant bands and were considered by some to be an endangered or rare species (fwiis,mt,gov). Bighorn sheep from Banff National Park (Alberta, Canada) was first introduced into National Bison Range around 1922 with credits to the Pittman-Robertson federal funding that provided the impetus for transplant of all game species ( Miller et al, 2012 ). The population has been monitored continuously since 1979, around 1985, 5 rams were introduced from neighboring Montana herds into this isolation population. A comprehensive genetic sampling began in 1988, and sheep were individually recognizable through individual phenotypes and ear tags (Miller et al, 2012), and a pedigree has been constructed based on behavioral and genetic data (Hogg et al, 2006). A second series of translocations occurred between 1990 and 1994, all from Montana herds except for one female from Wyoming herd. The present distribution and status of bighorn sheep in the National Bison Range is due to improved range conditions, reduced competition for forage from livestock and other wildlife, reductions in domestic sheep and goats, regulated hunting and transplanting. …show more content…
We then construct a dominance hierarchy, using abbreviated data set of observations of interacting rams from 2001 rutt provided by Dr.Jack Hogg. We then looked into the genetic and conservation consequences of dominance relationships and mating