June 2026

Bighorn Institute
Jun 30
3 min read

A Lamb Born to a Babe

A yearling ewe has given birth in the San Jacinto Mountains, which is not unheard of, but certainly uncommon. Most ewes give birth for the first time at 2 years of age. We’ve had a couple of yearling ewes give birth in our pens over the years, but none successfully reared their lambs. This young ewe was captured and radio-collared this past October when she was approximately 9 months old, but fortunately, she was fitted with a collar with the ability to expand as she continues to grow. She is now a yearling, or one-year old, and has a healthy looking 2 ½ month old lamb. So far, she appears to be a good mother, attentive and nursing her lamb and she’s joined a nearby nursery group, which will help her all the more. Ewes babysit for each other and keep vigilance when in groups so they provide extra protection necessary with young lambs around. While things look good now, we’re cautiously optimistic since the lamb has entered the 2-4 month old age period when lambs are most susceptible to disease while building their own immune system. It’s also getting hotter with summer upon us so this little guy has an uphill battle to survive. We’ll be cheering them on as we continue to monitor them this summer.

“Popeye” the One-Eyed Wonder

Back in early 2023, we documented a 2 year-old ram with a corneal opacity in his left eye, which likely rendered him blind in that eye. Nobody ever told him he was “deficient” in any way and you’d certainly never know it if you didn’t see his eye yourself. He gets around great in the mountains, we just saw him on top of a ridge a few days ago. He’s now a healthy 5 year-old robust ram and was captured and radio-collared this past fall. We nick-named him “Popeye,” but he doesn’t know his name and certainly doesn’t come when we call him, which would be helpful when we’re tracking him. We’re kidding of course; none of these wild sheep come when we call them no matter what we call them. Anyway, thought we’d spotlight this guy since he’s coming into his own and was recently chasing around a ewe, despite being early for the “official” start of the rut next month. He may only see out of one eye, but from our point of view, he’s looking at a pretty bright future!

*Look closely and see "Popeye's" left eye is white.

Urban Incidents

June was a hectic month for sheep in the streets in the valley and resulted in one known collision in Palm Desert. On June 12th, an adult ram was struck by a car going up Highway 74 across from the National Monument Visitor Center. Fortunately, the ram got up and headed toward the mountains, but this incident highlights the seriousness of the situation. The sheep have been crossing back and forth across Highway 74 this past month and we knew it was a matter of time before one got hit. We’re grateful to Friends of the Desert for requesting and the City of Palm Desert for installing electronic signs to warn motorists to slow down due to bighorn sheep crossing. Please watch for sheep and tell others to do the same; it could save a life – a motorist or a sheep.

There have been a number of other incidents of sheep in the streets in June including in Palm Springs, Cathedral City Cove and La Quinta Cove. Please be vigilant and if you see sheep in the urban area, give us a call (760-346-7334). We’ll contact the appropriate authorities to help resolve the situation quickly and help keep everyone safe.

Adopt-a-Bighorn

Need a unique gift for someone or just want to support the sheep? You can Adopt-a-Bighorn! Lambs are $100, ewes and rams are $150 each. Adoptions include a certificate, a 4x6 color photograph of your endangered Peninsular bighorn sheep, a bighorn sheep fact sheet, a year’s subscription to our e-newsletter, and a year’s membership with the Institute. All adoptions are 100% tax-deductible! Visit our website to adopt-a-bighorn: https://www.bighorninstitute.org/adopt-a-bighorn