Lambs May proved an exciting month with the addition of a couple of newborn lambs as lambing season extends through June. Since several of the lambs in the mountains near Rancho Mirage and La Quinta have already died, new additions are welcome. Summer is starting and it’s the toughest time in a lamb’s life. We’ll continue to follow these and the rest of the lambs in our study area and hope for the best. SilverRock Fence Update So far, the bighorn exclusion fence at Silve

In February 2014, as part of a multiple-species habitat conservation plan requirement, the state and federal wildlife agencies mandated that a barrier (i.e., a fence or functional equivalent) be built around three golf courses in La Quinta (SilverRock, PGA West and The Quarry) because bighorn sheep have been utilizing them as an artificial food and water source since 2007. The barrier was to be built within two years, but has been tied up with environmental review and resist

In mid-November 2016, the California Department of Fish & Wildlife (CDFW) conducted a helicopter survey for bighorn sheep in the Peninsular Ranges. This was the first range-wide survey since 2010. They saw 588 bighorn sheep (including lambs) and 62% of the collared bighorn. Statistically, CDFW estimates there are now 794 adult bighorn in the Peninsular Ranges, which stretch from Palm Springs to the Mexican border. This population estimate is down from the last survey in 2

Two of the three local herds have increased in number from Palm Springs to La Quinta. There are now approximately 70 adult bighorn in the San Jacinto Mountains near Palm Springs with 16 lambs surviving from last year. In the northern Santa Rosa Mountains there are now around 80 adult bighorn with 13 lambs surviving. Both of these herds have increased, but the central Santa Rosa herd near La Quinta is down slightly, according to the recent helicopter survey. There are now