The Wild Sheep Foundation (WSF), along with its chapters and affiliates, helped raise more than $186,000 recently, funding the translocation of bighorn sheep from Oregon back to British Columbia. The conservation project aims to bolster a struggling sheep population in a region where these animals were originally transferred from back in 1954.
“Naming this project ‘Coming Home’ was the easy part,” said Gray N. Thornton, President and CEO of the Wild Sheep Foundation. “Next was raising the money to pay for it. That was also easy. There is no more passionate, committed, and giving group than wild sheep conservationists. Conservation is all about paying it forward, but sometimes it does pay it backward, and that’s special when we all can help make it happen.”
California bighorn sheep were translocated from British Columbia to Oregon in November of 1954. The reintroduction effort augmented existing populations there. Twenty sheep, captured near Williams Lake, were transported and released into a 1,000-acre facility on Hart Mountain, according to WSF. The sheep thrived there, ultimately becoming the source herd for additional reintroductions throughout Oregon.
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Oregon boasts 32 populations of California bighorn sheep totaling more than 3,700 animals. Populations in John Day and Deschutes River areas now offer harvests of 60 ewes per year, according to WSF.
Thornton explained, “Other bighorn sheep populations can benefit from a management surplus of sheep in other areas. Today, British Columbia has several populations in decline for a variety of reasons, including disease challenges. Management actions are in place for recovery, but some herds are at low levels and need bolstering.”
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From 1954 to 2000, seven western U.S. states received 693 sheep from British Columbia. Now Oregon wildlife officials work with B.C. agencies to translocate 100 sheep back to the province to augment one of several herds.
“This is an opportunity to collectively repopulate struggling California bighorn sheep in B.C., which, as a province, has gifted so many other areas their wild sheep over the years,” Thornton concluded. “This is the chance to give back to make such a historical return happen, and none of us on hand were surprised at how quickly the money was raised.”
