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.

Seventeen cougars (Felis concolor) utilizing the Junction Wildlife Management Area (W.M.A.) in central British Columbia were fitted with radio collars. All collared cougars within the area were relocated using ground-based and aerial radio telemetry. Relocations were made daily during intensive field work (December-August), and a minimum of four per week the remainder of the year. General site reconnaissance and direct sampling work from 1986 to 1988 revealed 132 prey species mortalities of which 50 were confirmed as recent cougar kills. Although bighorn ewes and lambs (Ovis canadensis californiana) were not important prey items for the cougars, bighorn rams comprised 77.6% of the total mortality sample and 46.5% of the confirmed cougar kills. Cougars selected rams in greater proportion than would be expected based on the availability of rams in the prey population. Poor post-rut body condition and restricted rear and peripheral vision were factors that increased the rams' vulnerability to cougar predation. Cougar predation rates on bighorn sheep and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus hemionus) were determined for two females with kittens. Kill rates varied from 0.7 - 3.0 ungulates/week. Interactions between cougars and coyotes (Canis latrans) at kill sites influenced the cougars' utilization of kills and predation rates. In 200 km² of the 425 km² study area, 130 coyotes were removed over a two-year period. The predation rate of a cougar with three kittens within the coyote removal area averaged 1.1 kills/week while that of a female with two similarly-aged kittens in the non-removal area averaged 2.6 kills/week. Moreover, observations of cougars abandoning kills following harassment by coyotes, suggested that cougar/coyote interactions were an important part of the system. Poor lamb recruitment and a decline in the number of mature rams in the Junction herd are a concern for the Ministry of Environment (MOE) Wildlife Branch. I make two recommendations that address these concerns: 1. Maintain the resident cougar population without removing cougars. Cougars were not important predators of the lamb segment, nor were cougars keying on the older, larger rams. Moreover, removal of the resident cougar population will disrupt the intraspecific and territorial dynamics of the cougar population resulting in an influx of transient cougars. This, in turn, will lead to the Junction system stabilizing at cougar numbers equal to or possibly greater than pre-removal levels. 2. Initiate an alternating, two-year on, two-year off, February-April coyote removal program until Iamb recruitment remains above 20 lambs/100 ewes throughout a four-year cycle. This program is preferable to cougar removal in that coyote removal can be implemented more effectively on a temporally and spatially scale. Coyote removal will result in an increase in lamb recruitment to the bighorn population, including the ram component. Moreover, fewer rams from this increased population will be killed because of lower cougar predation rates that also will result from the decrease in coyote scavenging/displacement pressures. / Science, Faculty of / Zoology, Department of / Graduate

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.

The number of desert bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis mexicana) in Pusch Ridge Wilderness (PRW), Santa Catalina Mountains, Arizona has declined to between 50 and 100 animals. Sheep have restricted movements to the southwest corner of PRW. I developed a model based on nitrogen (N) content of forage and forage quantity to measure seasonal changes in nutritional carrying capacity of sheep use areas in PRW. Forage based estimates of animals numbers were greater for April to September than for October to March. My study suggests that forage is not limiting desert bighorn sheep in PRW and illustrates the potential to support more desert bighorn sheep in PRW than the current population. Seasonal fluctuations in range productivity should be examined in relation to human disturbances proximal to desert bighorn sheep habitat and fire management programs for PRW.

Many prey species exhibit antipredator responses in the presence of humans. These responses may lead in turn to behavioral modification and spatiotemporal avoidance strategies that may have implications for long term population dynamics. Our research was developed to measure the potential effects of backcountry recreation on the behavior and distribution of desert bighorn sheep in the Pusch ridge Wilderness Area (PRWA), Arizona, USA. Human use of the PRWA was quantified across the study site using real time observer field counts and modeled use metrics derived from motion activated trail cameras (n=15) placed on six US Forest Service (USFS) trails. We conducted 113 behavioral observations at multiple spatial scales from February of 2015 through May of 2016 to quantify female bighorn activity budgets and responses to human interaction. Bighorn behavior was characterized in a generalized linear model (GLM) to examine how human use and environmental covariates affect changes in the frequency of behaviors within the bighorn activity budget. Our models indicate that interactions between bighorn and humans are complex. An increase in human activity in the PRWA correlates inversely with bighorn time spent grazing. As a potential trade off bighorn significantly increased the frequency of time bedded. These results suggest that bighorn behavioral responses to human activity may carry costs associated with avoidance, however, behavioral analysis alone is not enough to measure the extent of such costs. This research has management implications where multiple use and high levels of human activity have the potential to negatively influence the behavior of wildlife species.

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No description available.

The seasonal development and yields of four major plant communities, of the important winter ranges of California bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis californiana Douglas) in the Ashnola region, and their relation to basic climatic factors, were studied from May 1967 through December 1968. The four communities were: 1) Da bunch grass community dominated by Agropyron spicatum, 2) a sod grass community dominated by Poa pratensis, 3) a tree understory community dominated by Calamagrostis rubescens and 4) a half-shrub community dominated by Artemisia frigida. The climatic variables measured were: ambient air temperature, precipitation, including snow, evaporation and wind. Run-off, soil moisture and soil temperature were also measured. To reduce climatic variations between communities, all study sites were located at approximately the same elevation and were close to one another. Virtually all forage production in the four communities, in the growing seasons of both 1967 and 1958, occurred before the end of July. After this time, due to shattering, leaching and decay, decreases in herbage weights, ranging from 23 to 35 percent occurred by autumn, and further losses, ranging from 7 to 36 percent occurred over winter. The mean growth rates were essentially the same in the two years, but the cessation of growth two weeks earlier in 1968, resulted in lower production than in 1967. The dates spring growth commenced coincided closely with the dates that mean daily temperatures rose to 42 degrees Fahrenheit, whereas the dates growth ceased coincided closely with the dates that available soil water was exhausted. Both ambient air temperatures and soil temperatures remained favourable for growth until early autumn. The length of the growing season is the main factor determining net productivity of the Ashnola bighorn winter ranges; temperatures determine the beginning of the season and soil moisture deficits terminate the season. Moreover because the growing season is relatively short, climatic influences are important factors determining how much of the forage produced will remain potentially available for overwintering bighorn. / Land and Food Systems, Faculty of / Graduate

The effect of seasonal cattle grazing on a newly reintroduced population of California bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis californiana) in Big Cottonwood Canyon, Idaho, was studied. The hypothesis that bighorn sheep avoid cattle was tested. The issue of avoidance between bighorn sheep and livestock is arguable. Some studies have found that bighorn sheep avoid cattle while others have found no response of bighorn sheep to cattle. Evidence was found to document the avoidance of cattle by bighorn sheep. The size of the bighorn's home range and core area decreased with the movement of cattle into areas of high bighorn use. As cattle were moved into bighorn core areas, sheep responded by relocating. Bighorn sheep decreased their distance to escape terrain as cattle moved closer. The level and location of human disturbance on the study area did not have any effect on bighorn sheep movements or how sheep used the habitat. The severity of response observed is in marked contrast with the response of established bighorn populations to cattle. I suggest that newly reintroduced bighorn sheep are extremely sensitive to disturbance as a result of relocation trauma. Sensitivity may diminish over time.

The ecology of bighorn sheep in Canyonlands National Park, Utah was investigated between July 1974 and December 1975. Primary objectives of this study were: (1) to determine the distribution and abundance of bighorn sheep in the Park; (2) to examine the effects of human encroachment, and (3) to determine key habitat factors in relation to bighorn sheep movements. Data were collected by ground and aerial surveys. There were between 60 and 100 bighorn sheep in the Island in the Sky District and between 20 and 30 in the Needles District. Bighorn sheep distribution was closely related to the history of livestock grazing and landform characteristics of the canyons. Human activities have restricted bighorn ewe distribution more than ram distribution. Bighorn ewes were observed in canyons which were not used by domestic livestock or where much of the canyon was isolated from domestic livestock. Deer and bighorn sheep demonstrated different landform preferences. Deer occupied large level areas, washes, and river bottoms. Bighorn sheep remained on the more rugged terrain, moving to level areas to feed. In canyons which were completely isolated from deer and livestock, bighorn sheep preferred t he broad level areas and washes. Bighorn ewes did not demonstrate seasonal movements, whereas rams had definite movement patterns. In the southern portion of the Island in the Sky District , rams formed small bands and remained in a series of four canyons throughout the late winter and spring . In June, these rams dispersed individually or in pairs to higher elevations. During October they returned to the canyons below the White Rim to search for ewes. In the eastern portion of the Island in the Sky District, mature rams remained below the White Rim only during the rut, dispersing to higher elevations for the rest of the year. Physical barriers may minimize the impact of tourism upon bighorn sheep. If bighorn sheep were above or unable to see the source of disturbance , the impact was not as great as when bighorn were able to see the source. This may explain the tendency for bighorn ewes to quickly retreat when vehicles approached them on the White Rim Road where few physical barriers are present. Human encroachment also decreases the energy intake and increases the energy output of bighorn sheep. Bighorn sheep appear to be at equilibrium with the current range they inhabit. The National Park Service should monitor the use of the White Rim Road to evaluate effects on the bighorn sheep and restrict hiking below the White Rim to minimize stress on the bighorn sheep within this range. Studies should be initiated to investigate the bighorn sheep expansion of its range within the Park as a result of the cessation of lives tock grazing, and the role tourism plays in limiting it.