Colorado Parks and Wildlife capture, relocate Rampart Bighorn Sheep for new herd

In January, Colorado Parks and Wildlife began an operation to capture 20 Rampart Bighorn Sheep to start a new herd.

Every morning staff and volunteers have been spreading apple pulp and alfalfa to prep the sheep for capture at an old quarry above Colorado Springs. Officials said the sheep will be relocated to the mountains southwest of Pueblo to start a new herd.

The bales of hay and apple pulp are intended to lure the 150-member Rampart herd, where a net will be set up to catch 20 of the Bighorn Sheep.

Once the sheep are captured in the net, they are blindfolded and CPW staff restrict their legs as they carefully free them from the net. Then CPW veterinarians sedate and assess the sheep for overall health and signs of disease. Each sheep receives an ear tag before being transported to their new home.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife has been capturing Bighorn Sheep this way and rebuilding herds across the state since 1944. They said the department was the first wildlife agency in the U.S. to successfully capture Bighorn Sheep for relocation.

A previous operation in 2022 captured two dozen sheep for transport to Beaver Creek Canyon near Victor. CPW said the struggling herd had been decimated by disease.

The department said these efforts are part of CPW's mission to re-establish native species in their historic habitat.