The social organization and diurnal activity patterns of captive California bighorn ewes were investigated from May 1977 to December 1978. Social interactions between ewes were brief in duration and infrequent, relative to bighorn rams. Aggressive interactions (butts) were more common than horn displays. Although a dominance hierarchy was evident in the herd, it was not strongly linear. Age, horn length, and body weight were not shown to be strongly correlated to dominance. The most dominant animals proved to be the most aggressive, initiating more interactions than subordinate animals. The presence of a lamb appeared to improve the social status of some ewes. Dominant status could not be shown to positively affect an animal's diet, activity budget or productivity. The herd's diurnal activity pattern changed considerably on a seasonal basis. The activity pattern was characterized by successive feeding and bedding periods in spring and summer. Activity peaks generally declined in number and increased in duration during the fall and winter periods. The herd's diurnal activity budget also varied seasonally. The proportion of the day devoted to feeding increased with decreasing daylength, although actual daylight grazing times were poorly correlated to daylength. The proportion of the day devoted to bedding was highest in spring and summer, and to a lesser extent, in mid-winter. Actual bedding times were significantly correlated (r = 0.92) to daylength. Both the actual time and proportion of the day devoted to standing, travelling and "other" activities showed only minor seasonal fluctuations. It was shown that poor health in herd members affected activity budgets significantly. Late stages of pregnancy could not be shown to significantly affect activity budgets. Average basal metabolic rates (BMR) and diurnal activity costs were estimated for the herd. Both BMR's and activity costs were higher in spring and early summer than at other times of the year. / Land and Food Systems, Faculty of / Graduate

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Thesis submitted to the graduate faculty of Chadron State College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Education. / "June, 2008". Includes bibliographical references. Also available in PDF via the World Wide Web.

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I examined habitat use by desert bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis medicana) in the Little Harquahala Mountains, Arizona from 1989 to 1992. I compared microsites used by male, female, and mixed-sex groups. I also compared use of microsites by sheep to random sites during the breeding and nonbreeding seasons. There were no differences in use of microsites between the breeding and nonbreeding seasons. However, microsites used by sheep had steeper slopes, more barrel cactus (Ferocactus wislizenii), higher topographic position, and more foothills palo verde (Cercidium microphyllum) than random sites. I examined seasonal diets. There were no seasonal differences between the diets of males and females. Brittle bush (Encelia farinosa), desert ironwood (Olneya tesota), fairy duster (Calliandra eriophylla), foothills palo verde, janusia (Janusia gracilis), Mormon tea (Ephedra torreyana), ratany (Krameria parvifolia), wild buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum), grama grass (Bouteloua spp.), bedstraw (Galium spp.), borage (Borage spp.), and barrel cacti were present in diets all seasons. Barrel cactus is a seasonally important part of the diet, providing moisture during hot, dry periods. Forage selection is not a factor in the sexual segregation of desert bighorn sheep in the Little Harquahala Mountains. I examined habitat use by female sheep relative to the timing of parturition from 1989 to 1991. I compared range size and microsite habitat components of female sheep prior to and following parturition to random sites. Nineteen lambs were born to 10 females and 6 lambs survived $\ge$6 months. Lambs that died lived an average of 34 days. Five females did not raise any lambs that lived $\ge$6 months in any year. No female raised a lamb that lived $\ge$6 months 2 years consecutively. Females reduced their range sizes as lambing approached. Individual females used the same lambing areas repeatedly. Microsites used by female sheep were steeper and more rugged than random sites. Microsites used by females for 8 weeks after parturition had significantly less barrel cactus than was found at random sites. The traditional use of parturition sites in rugged terrain may outweigh the increased need for water by lactating females.

In April, 1967, this study was begun in a 211 -square-mile area, in the rugged, arid, Red Canyon area in San Juan County, southeastern Utah. Sixteen months were spent in the field to determine the population trend, migration, distribution, and the affect of water on distribution of the bighorn sheep. No migration was documented,but seasonal shifts did occur . The shifts were due to the availability of water in the free state and in plants . Dry periods forced sheep to remain close to seeps and springs. Lambing peaked in May and was over by June . Lou lamb mortality and high numbers of yearlings indicated a growing population which is re - covering from severe mortality during the uranium boom in the 1950's. Sheep preferred browse but seasonal shifts occurred, grasses and forbs being preferred. Plants analyzed for protein proved adequate for gravid and lactating domestic ewes, and this is believed adequate for wi ld sheep. However, plants were found to be deficient in phosphorus. Parasites, disease and poisonous plants were not found to be limiting factors during the study. A 50-50 sex ratio, expec t ed in a wi ld, relatively unhunted population, was found during this study . Spermatogenesis t o some degree was evident in all trophy rams examined taken during the hunt. No biological reason to remove rams could be ascertained. Recommendations for management of the des ert bighorn sheep in s outheastern Utah include removing cattle from she e p ranges, water development and maintenance, continued ewe -lamb surveys , hunting of trophy animals, and studying a ll wild sheep populations in the state .

Graduation date: 1993

I studied diel activity patterns of female desert bighorn sheep ( Ovis canadensis mexicana) in the Little Harquahala Mountains, Arizona, July 1985-June 1986. Diurnal activity patterns were similar throughout the year. Nocturnal activity patterns were similar for all seasons except spring when activity significantly (P = 0.003) decreased. Bighorn sheep were active an average of 39 and 33% of any given hour during the day and night, respectively. Diurnal ambient temperatures and relative humidity were significantly (P ≤ 0.048) correlated with bighorn sheep activity during all seasons. Bighorn sheep spent a majority of the time foraging in the fall and winter, but spent more time resting during spring and summer. Bighorn sheep obtain water in their food throughout the day; percent moisture content of forage species remained high (≥ 32%) for any given hour of the day throughout the year.

The fundamental preoccupations of this research align with emergent literature on neoliberal conservation—understood as an amalgamation of ideology and techniques informed by the premise that natures can only be 'saved' through their submission to capital and its subsequent revaluation in capitalist terms. This literature shift attention "from how nature is used in and through the expansion of capitalism to how nature is conserved in and through the expansion of capitalism" (Büscher et al. 2012:6), thus opening up a new set of anthropological interrogations. To investigate this phenomenon this work centers on the use of sport trophy-hunting as a neoliberal conservation strategy in the Americas, where recent changes in policy and practice mark the creation of wildlife enclosures in the hands of private capital. Despite the fact that these neoliberal reforms in conservation have the capacity "of repositioning community resources within a new system of meaning, altering the material realities of social relations within the community, modifying human-ecological interactions, and introducing new forms of governance" (MacDonald 2005), little systematic research and social analysis has been conducted exploring this phenomenon. Responding to this gap, this doctoral dissertation examines the social effects of market-oriented conservation through extended ethnographic research among the Comcaac (Seri), a former hunting and gathering society living along the coast of the Gulf of California in the Sonoran desert of Northern Mexico. The research documents the bighorn sheep sport trophy-hunting program taking place in Comcaac territory, in order to better understand the processes contributing to the production and performance of indigenous environmental expertise; in turn, this work produces new insights into how morality, individualism and collective effort are affected by neoliberal logics involved in the management of wildlife, while documenting concomitant local renegotiation of power, knowledge and wealth.