Colorado Parks and Wildlife recently started two major big game research projects in the south San Juan Mountains.
In the first, an elk study, 25 animals -- eight bulls and 17 cows -- were captured and fitted with radio collars, allowing biologists to track the animals' movements from the air.
The collars will identify elk that are not always visible on “classifications flights,” which are used with other information to estimate herd composition and size. By combining data from traditional classification flights and the radio collars, biologists will be able to more accurately predict herd composition and size and improve classification flight procedures.
The second study is a bighorn study focusing on one of the three distinct bighorn herds in the south San Juan Mountains.
This herd seems to be in decline, so biologists equipped seven bighorns with collars to track their movements. Researchers want to learn how far these bighorn sheep move from year to year, if they interact with the other bighorn herds and if they venture into areas grazed by domestic sheep. Bighorns are susceptible to diseases carried by domestic sheep.
With little information having been gathered on this bighorn herd, the new information will prove to be invaluable.
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