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A Century Later Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep Return To Yosemite, Sequoia

Thousands of Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep once called the Sierra Nevada home.  Valley Public Radio’s Ezra David Romero reports on the latest efforts in restoring the species to their natural habitat.

It’s a good day for Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep, which was thought to be extinct 100 years ago in Yosemite National Park. Two herds were relocated to Yosemite and Sequoia national parks this week from other parts of the Sierra.

Dana Dierkes is the spokesperson for Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.

DIERKES: “The population of Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep actually dwindled down to 100 different individual sheep. So the animal was listed as an endangered species in 2000.”

Efforts to restore the breed have been going since 1986. Twelve sheep were moved into the Cathedral range in Yosemite and 10 in the Laurel Creek area in Sequoia.

Sarah Stock is a Yosemite Wildlife biologist.

STOCK: “When we were waiting to get picked up by the helicopter we could see them up on the cliff in the afternoon light and just imagine bighorn sheep on that exact same ledge 100 years prior.”

The bighorn sheep live on cliffs or rocky areas, can grow over three-feet tall and can weigh as much as 220 pounds. Only 600 exist in the state today. 

Ezra David Romero is an award-winning radio reporter and producer. His stories have run on Morning Edition, Morning Edition Saturday, Morning Edition Sunday, All Things Considered, Here & Now, The Salt, Latino USA, KQED, KALW, Harvest Public Radio, etc.