A long-gone and once highly celebrated resident of the El Paso region made a comeback last December. The desert bighorn sheep, who vanished from the Franklin Mountains almost a century ago, were reintroduced by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department in a bid to save the species in Texas. The El Paso herd is deemed critical to the overall survival of the bighorn sheep population.
Matthew Montoya, a park ranger at Franklin Mountains State Park, shared an update on the park’s sheep during an interview with Texas Standard in El Paso. According to Montoya, 77 bighorn sheep were transported from the Big Bend region and relocated to the state park in December. The good news is that the sheep are thriving, with approximately 17 babies born this spring and more on the way. Despite the challenges they face, including disease and unregulated hunting, the bighorn sheep seem to be doing well in their new environment.
The decision to reintroduce the bighorn sheep to the urban state park was initially met with skepticism, but it has proven to be a successful strategy. The Franklin Mountains serve as a sanctuary for the sheep, protecting them from external threats. One such threat is a disease called M. ovi, carried by sheep and goats from the old world. By keeping the invasive North African goat, known as the aoudad, out of the Franklin Mountains, the park has created a safe haven for the bighorn sheep to thrive. Looking ahead, the park hopes to use this population as a resource to support bighorn sheep conservation efforts across the state.
