SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico wildlife officials are hoping to relocate 40 to 60 desert bighorn sheep to the Sacramento Mountains — an area where the animal has been absent for nearly a century.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish announced this week the agency would expand the desert bighorn's range and numerically increase its statewide population.
In 1980, desert bighorn sheep were listed as endangered. But after three-plus decades of restoration, they were removed from the list in 2011.
Stewart Liley, the department's chief of wildlife, says there are an estimated 1,200 to 1,400 desert bighorn sheep in New Mexico.
He credits similar relocation projects for the species' steady growth.
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Information from: The Santa Fe New Mexican, http://www.santafenewmexican.com