New Mexico Project
Survival and cause-specific mortality of neonatal desert bighorn sheep in New Mexico
August 2011 - May 2014
Personnel
Participating Agencies
- New Mexico Department of Game and Fish
- T & E, Inc.
Based on recent population growth due to active recovery efforts conducted by the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish (NMDGF), desert bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis mexicana) have been removed from the state’s threatened and endangered species list. As a result of this delisting, desert bighorn sheep populations will be subjected to increased harvest in New Mexico. The NMDGF has identified the need to obtain estimates of lamb survival, recruitment and cause-specific mortality as part of ongoing efforts to manage for the continued growth of bighorn sheep populations in New Mexico. Our objectives are to: 1) estimate lamb survival and determine cause-specific mortality of neonatal desert bighorn sheep in the Peloncillo Mountains, New Mexico; and 2) continue ongoing monitoring efforts to determine causes of mortalities of adult bighorn sheep in the Peloncillo, Big Hatchet and Little Hatchet mountains.
| Research Publications | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| Smith, J.B., D.P. Walsh, E.J. Goldstein, Z.D. Parsons, R.C. Karsch, J.R. Stiver, J.W. Cain III, K.J. Raedeke, and J.A. Jenks. 2014. Techniques for capturing bighorn sheep lambs. Wildlife Society Bulletin 38:165-174. | Download | March 2014 |
| Karsch, R.C., J.W. Cain III, E.M. Rominger, and E.J. Goldstein. 2016. Desert bighorn lambing habitat: Parturition, lamb nursery, and predation sites. Journal of Wildlife Management 80:1069-1080. | Download | July 2016 |
| Presentations | Presentation Date |
|---|---|
| Karsch, R., J.W. Cain III, E.M. Rominger, and E.J. Goldstein. 2013. Desert bighorn sheep lamb survival and cause-specific mortality in the Peloncillo Moutains, New Mexico. Desert Bighorn Council Meeting, April 17-20,2013 Las Cruces, NM | April 2013 |
| Karsch, R., J.W. Cain III, E. Goldstein, and R. Rominger. 2014. Desert bighorn sheep lamb survival and cause-specific mortality in the Peloncillo Mountains, New Mexico. 47th Joint Annual Meeting of the Arizona/New Mexico Chapters of The Wildlife Society, Pinetop, Arizona, New Mexico, USA. | February 2014 |
| Karsch, R.C., J.W. Cain III, E.M. Rominger, E.J. Goldstein. 2015. Parturient desert bighorn sheep survival strategies: environmental characteristics at female parturition sites and lamb nursery and predation sites. 48th Joint Annual Meeting of the Arizona/New Mexico Chapters of The Wildlife Society, Las Cruces, New Mexico, USA. | February 2015 |
| Theses and Dissertations | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| Karsch, R.C. 2014. Desert bighorn sheep adult female and lamb survival, cause-specific mortality, and parturient female habitat selection in the Peloncillo Mountains, New Mexico, USA. M.S. Thesis. Department of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Ecology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces. 121 pp. | August 2014 |