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WAFWA Update - North Dakota


SHEEP STATS

JURISDICTIONAL WAFWA SUMMARIES PROVIDING IN-DEPTH, STATISTICAL SHEEP INFORMATION. 

Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep

Populations

The North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s 2022 bighorn sheep survey, completed by recounting lambs in March, revealed a record 347 bighorn sheep in the Little Missouri National Grassland of western North Dakota, up 4% from 2021 and 15% above the five-year average. The 2022 survey was the third consecutive record total and surpassed the previous record of 335 bighorns in 2021.
 
The 2022 survey saw an increase for the fifth consecutive year. Altogether, biologists counted 96 rams, 206 ewes and 45 lamb (Figure 1).  Not included are approximately 40 bighorn sheep in the North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park and 80 bighorn sheep in the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. 
 
The northern badlands population increased 4% from 2021 and was the highest count on record. The southern badlands population was unchanged at the lowest level since bighorns were reintroduced there in 1966.
 
Adult rams were down just slightly from 2021, and adult ewes were at record numbers. Unfortunately, following a record summer count of lambs, winter survival was only 54%, the lowest level on record and well below the long-term average. The lamb recruitment rate was also near a record low. Nearly six months of harsh winter conditions was the likely cause of poor winter survival of lambs.
 
Department biologists count and classify all bighorn sheep in late summer, and then recount lambs the following March, as they approach one year of age, to determine recruitment.
 
Department staff, in conjunction with biologists from the Three Affiliated Tribes Fish and Wildlife Division, also reported the bighorn sheep translocated in January 2020 from Rocky Boy’s Reservation in Montana to the Fort Berthold Reservation performed exceptionally well their third year in the state, as the population has nearly tripled. 

 

FIGURE 1

 
Population change not including populations at Theodore Roosevelt National Park and Fort Berthold Reservation.

There are currently about 470 bighorn sheep in the populations managed by the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, National Park Service and the Three Affiliated Tribes Fish and Wildlife Division.
 
Department staff were encouraged by the results of the 2022 survey considering the severity of the winter.
 

Licenses and Harvest

A bighorn sheep hunting season is tentatively scheduled to open in 2023.The status of the season will be determined September 1, following the summer population survey.  Game and Fish issued five licenses in 2022 and all hunters were successful in harvesting a ram.  A total of 264 bighorn rams have been harvested in North Dakota since 1975, with a success rate of 98%. A record 19,423 applicants applied for a lottery license in 2022, including 314 non-residents.
 

Test and Remove

North Dakota experienced a significant epizootic in 2014. Movi was detected in 100% of mortalities. Despite the population currently at record numbers, animals that test positive via PCR during annual winter capture and collaring operations are euthanized. No detections occurred during 2021 and 2022. 
 
— Brett Wiedmann, North Dakota Game and Fish Department
 
WSF World Headquarters | 412 Pronghorn Trail | Bozeman, MT 59718 USA | Phone: 406.404.8750 (800-OK-FNAWS) | info@wildsheepfoundation.org
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