Colorado Wildlife Team To Drop Giant Net On Bighorn Sheep As Part Of Planned Relocation Project
(CBS4) - Approximately 25 bighorn sheep in Colorado will soon be on the move, if all goes as planned. Colorado Parks and Wildlife released video on Thursday of staff setting up a massive net with steel fence posts in the Colorado Springs area. It will function as a bait zone.
The hope is next week they can drop that net on a herd as part of a relocation project.
One CPW biologist at the scene explained in a tweet why perfect preparation is key for when they drop the net.
"As we set up the trap we'll continue to bait underneath the net so the sheep get used to having the net over their heads with hopes that on the day that we are here to actually drop the trap there will be no issue with getting them underneath the trap first," CPW biologist Ty Woodward said.
Watch a time-lapse video of the 2-hour project. CPW's predecessor pioneered this method of bighorn sheep conservation in 1944. The species had been driven to the brink of extinction in the 1880s by disease and unregulated hunting. Today, CO has 7,000+ bighorn in 80+ herds. (8/8) pic.twitter.com/C1h1pzK8jZ
— CPW SE Region (@CPW_SE) February 3, 2022
The team's next task will be flying the captured herd to a remote canyon near Victor in Teller County.
There are more than 7,000 bighorn sheep in Colorado.