Bighorn Sheep GPS Tracking In The Mojave Desert

More than 100 Bighorn sheep have died this year in California’s Mojave Desert. The cause of death is an ongoing pneumonia epidemic in the region. State and federal wildlife experts will spend $48,000 in an effort to combat the health crisis. “We are throwing everything we have at this to better understand it and hopefully control it,” said Debra Hughson, Mojave National Preserve science adviser. The funds will be spend on a helicopter survey and GPS tracking collars for the sheep.

The pneumonia cannot spread to humans, but is devastating the bighorn sheep populations in the Old Dad Mountain and Marble Mountain areas of the Mojave National Preserve. The Department of Fish and Wildlife will provide 54 GPS tracking collars for the survey. A team will fly over the Mojave Desert in search of the sheep. Individual animals will be captured with a net shot from the low-flying helicopter. These sheep will be fitted with a GPS collar, and the researchers will take a blood sample and nasal swab before releasing the animal. If one of the sheep captured is obviously ill, it may be put down and studied.

The blood samples and GPS technology will all be used to get a better idea of how many sheep are infected with pneumonia and to strategize how best to help the herds. The GPS collars in particular can help researchers track where and how the disease is spreading. The tracking technology uses satellite signals to transmit up-to-date, precise location information. If an animal stops moving, the team will investigate the location. One of the main reasons an animal stops moving, unfortunately, is that it has died.

By tracking the healthy sheep, researchers can learn exactly when and where the disease is spreading. “The idea here is to have collared animals in the surrounding mountain ranges so we can have an early warning of the spread of the pathogen,” Hughson explained. “We can get a better understanding of the progression of the disease, its spread and impact on herds.”

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Bighorn Sheep GPS Tracking In The Mojave Desert