From there, they were airlifted by helicopter for release in the upper canyon. It will take the animals a few months to be secure in their new habitat. In the meantime, we need to provide the herd some protection. Today, an ODFW biologist and a seasonal employee verified a cougar killed a fourth bighorn. Starting at the site of the kill, the biologists tracked and killed two mountain lions.
Cougars often remain in the area of a kill for several days.
By starting at the sheep carcass, biologists are reasonably sure they killed the cougars impacting the new bighorn population. This is a small portion of the Minam unit, and the removal of these cougars will have no effect on the overall cougar population there. Selective predator removal is fairly common in many reintroduction efforts. If more sheep are killed by mountain lions, ODFW will assess the feasibility of removing additional individuals preying on the bighorns. Similar actions have recently been employed to reduce predation on a newly transplanted herd of California bighorns in Idaho's Jim Sage Mountains.