May 2025

Wine Down Wednesday June 11th

Join us for a Wine Down Wednesday FUNdraiser June 11th from 5:00 – 7:00pm at Fisherman’s Grotto in Palm Desert to support the sheep!  Hosted by Marker Broadcasting, KOOL 95.9 and Q102.3 Classic Rock this fun mixer features wine tasting and appetizers for just $15 (cash only)!  We’ll also have a raffle with great prizes so hope to see you there!  All proceeds benefit the bighorn!

Helicopter Survey Results

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife conducted their biennial, range-wide Peninsular bighorn sheep helicopter survey in December 2024 and we finally have the results.  The new range-wide population estimate is 743 adult bighorn from Palm Springs to the Mexican border, a slight decrease from the last survey.  The population was at a high in 2010 with around 950 bighorn and has since been slowly declining to 794 in 2016, 745 in 2022 and now a few less than that.  In addition, there are still at least two recovery regions that are not meeting the minimum threshold of at least 25 adult ewes.  The Recovery Plan requires at least 750 adult bighorn range-wide and 25 ewes in each of the 9 recovery regions.  There are a host of other environmental requirements as well and as long as we have urban issues and sheep dying there, the “clock” cannot start to begin the downlisting process from endangered to threatened.  So, we’re cautiously optimistic that things will maintain if not improve before the next survey due in 2026.

Finally Home

The San Jacinto Mountains collared ewe that spent a month at most in 2024 in the mountains of Palm Springs has finally gone home.  She lost her lamb at just one month of age to apparent health issues and wandered around in the mountains for a few weeks before blitzing about as far north as she could, beyond Chino Canyon with the Tram.  She’s been living in the area in very steep terrain alone at first, but recently, a young ram joined her.  This ewe is incredibly independent and defies the norms for most bighorn ewes that always stay with other ewes in a relatively small area of a dozen or less square miles and don’t typically cross ranges.  We’ll see where she spends her summer and let you know.

Urban Issues

La Quinta:  In mid-May, we found out that a lamb fell into the canal at PGA West, but fortunately was rescued by a golfer who jumped in.  Normally, the canal is dangerous for people as well, but the water level was low so things worked out – this time. 

Palm Springs:  Sheep continue to use O’Donnell Golf Course most days, including ewes with lambs.  Earlier this year, sheep wandered into downtown Palm Springs so we’re working with the wildlife agencies to get this area closed off to the sheep.  In the meantime, a number of us non-profits and the wildlife agencies are working on rounding up volunteers that live in Palm Springs to help when needed to herd sheep back to the mountains that stray into the streets.  If you live in Palm Springs, are around this summer, and willing to be part of a volunteer “response team,” please let us know.  There are a number of other areas south of O’Donnell that the sheep come down into the urban areas so we can use all the help we can get.  Thanks in advance to those who are willing and able to volunteer.

(Sheep at O'Donnell)

Waterhole Count

The Institute staff and volunteers will conduct our annual waterhole count in late June in the northern Santa Rosa Mountains.  Since bighorn sheep can go up to three days in over 100º without physically drinking water, it’s best to do the count during summer when it’s hot and the sheep need to drink.  The count helps us to see how the overall population is doing and how the lambs are faring.  Most of the herd is unmarked so it’s a useful tool to compliment our daily monitoring.  Stay tuned for the results in next month’s newsletter.

Outreach

In late May, we gave a bighorn presentation to the Women of Wisdom at Trilogy at The Polo Club. We had a great group that was excited to learn about the sheep and how they can get involved.  If you would like a bighorn sheep presentation for your group, give us a call (760-346-7334) or email us (bi@bighorninstitute.org); we’d love to come talk to you!

(Photo credit FB Catherine Hayes of W.O.W.)

Mark Your Calendars!

Our Annual Party and Golf Classic fundraiser will take place Sunday and Monday, November 16th and 17th at the beautiful Stone Eagle Golf Club!  This year, the fabulous Patrick Evans will emcee our Annual Party Sunday evening.  A local celebrity and overall great philanthropist, Evans is also the Chief Meteorologist for KESQ, host of Eye on the Desert and was voted Best Radio Personality for MeTV FM radio for the 2024 community choice awards.  He’ll be a great addition to our event that you don’t want to miss! All fundraiser proceeds benefit the bighorn!

Wish List

Want to shop for the sheep?  Check out our Amazon Wish List link: https://www.amazon.com/registries/gl/guest-view/1VJZCXB0ZYTT2

The heavy-duty scanner is needed to digitize 40 years of documents & photos

Field Supplies (not on Amazon):

Telemetry receiver $1,000

Telemetry antenna $400

Gas gift cards for fieldwork (digital to bi@bighorninstitute.org): Chevron, Shell, Tower Market,

      Costco

Visa, Mastercard or Staples gift cards for office supplies and misc. needs