Only the lucky and the intrepid have a chance of spotting them, but Yosemite’s northeastern high country is home to one of the park’s rarest creatures: the
Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep.
With this year’s meager snowpack,
Scenic Wonders guests may have an earlier start on accessing the mountain realm of these noble beasts. And even if you don’t spot the resident herd, it’s a thrill to know these hoofed mountaineers are out there!
The Sierra Nevada Bighorn
The Sierra Nevada bighorn is one of three subspecies of North American bighorn, the others being the heavier-bodied Rocky Mountain and desert bighorns. Sierra Nevada rams usually don’t exceed 220 pounds, whereas a Rocky Mountain counterpart might be twice that size.
Sierra Nevada bighorns are also distinguished by the broad flare of their namesake horns, which both rams and ewes carry. While they’re more slender than those of Rocky Mountain or desert bighorns, the headgear of the Sierra Nevada sheep typically have a wider spread.
Like their relatives, Sierra Nevada bighorns—which travel in small herds, grazing on high-country grasses and forbs—are adept at negotiating the rough terrain of mountain peaks, ridges, and gorges. With their compact bodies, short and muscular legs, and padded hooves, they can race across cliffs and talus with remarkable speed and agility—especially when evading their primary predator in the Sierra, the puma.
Yosemite’s Bighorns: Conservation Challenges
Historically, bighorns were widely distributed in the High Sierra, but the spread of Euro-American settlement in the region set them on a precipitous decline. The main threat has been the spread of disease from domestic sheep overlapping the bighorn’s mountain-pasture range. By the mid-1990s, only about a hundred Sierra Nevada bighorns remained. Conservation work by government agencies such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the California Department of Fish and Game has boosted this population, partly through reintroductions.
About 40 bighorns inhabit Yosemite country, part of the
Mount Warren herd. These sheep spend much of their time in the Inyo National Forest, where their summer range is anchored by Lundy Canyon. They actually overwinter way up high around Mount Excelsior, which sits on Yosemite National Park’s eastern boundary. One way to access this general region is via the
Saddlebag Lake Trail off the Tioga Road. The Park Service and state biologists have been tracking the herd using high-tech GPS collars in an effort to learn more about their habits and movements—crucial information for aiding in their recovery.
A glimpse of a Sierra Nevada bighorn (which, we can hope, may become more likely in the coming years) summons the wild energy of these mountains like few other experiences. Whether or not you luck out sheep-watching in Yosemite’s remote backcountry, we invite you to learn more about these and other native critters with a stay at
one of our vacation rentals!
