Wild Horse sheep take a ride to the Tendoy Mountains

A helicopter ride away from Flathead Lake’s Wild Horse Island is Big Arm State Park, where Fish, Wildlife and Park biologists waited with horse trailers last week to take 50 bighorn sheep to the Tendoy Mountains south of Dillon.

The Quicksilver helicopter crew out of Colorado Springs, Colo. was contracted to move the bighorns from island to mainland. The sheep were flushed out of the trees and netted, hog-tied, blindfolded and loaded into a sling. They were then flown across the lake to the state park to have blood and swab samples taken before being loaded into the waiting trailers.

“This is kind of becoming a big thing we do every year,” said FWP veterinarian Jennifer Ramsey.

FWP has transported sheep from the island on and off over the years and consistently for the last three years. Last year’s shipment headed to Sun River. The Wild Horse bighorn migration will probably become a yearly thing for the foreseeable future, Thompson Falls FWP biologist Bruce Sterling said.

Moving sheep off the island not only helps prevent overpopulation on the island, but also helps re-populate bighorn in areas of the state where sheep herds need a boost because diseases like pneumonia have wiped out their numbers.

Bighorn sheep were moved to Wild Horse by FWP in the 1940’s. The island’s environment is prime for the sheep. With no natural predators and no hunting allowed, their herd numbers have grown and the sheep have stayed healthy.

Concern about overpopulation on the island is the main reason for pulling sheep off the island. Ideally the island’s herd would number 125 sheep, but before the move, the herd numbered around 230.

“It’s really important to try to maintain the population on the island,” Sterling said.

The reason he said, is that they could eat more food than can be produced and start to die off.

But, FWP is careful about where they decide to move the sheep and how they move them.

“There’s a lot of risk involved,” Sterling said. “There has to be a lot of thought put into whether it’s a good idea or not to move them.”

Ramsey said weather’s a factor. If it’s too hot, then the sheep’s body temperature rises too fast and FWP would have to stop. Populations in both the receiving area and Wild Horse island are tested for diseases and body mass.

“Bad health results could affect the decision on where to move them,” Ramsey said.

The main thing Ramsey tests the sheep for are pneumonias. Bighorn sheep don’t have a natural immune defense to pneumonia, therefore it has wiped out populations in Montana, much like the Tendoy herd was wiped out.

“We know this herd’s health pretty well,” Ramsey said. “We’re pretty comfortable moving the herd.”

After the Wild Horse sheep are introduced to a new population, FWP keeps tabs on the new population.

Five of the 50 sheep that went to the Tendoys received radio collars.

Ramsey said so far, things have worked out as they should with the previous herds Wild Horse sheep have been introduced to in Montana.

As for the Tendoys, Dillon FWP biologist Craig Fager, said the goal is to get that sheep herd from 30-50 up to 200.

The biggest reason Fager noted for wanting to increase herd populations not just south of Dillon, but across the state, is for hunting purposes.

Sterling agrees.

“As an agency we’d like to get them to a point where we can hunt them,” Sterling said. “Hunting is good for controlling the population.”