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Desert bighorn sheep (Ovis Canadensis nelsoni), Colorado National Monument, 2016.

Scientists began DNA-testing extant bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) in 1993 and found evidence for only three extant subspecies: (1) O. c. sierrae, Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep (formerly called California bighorn sheep); (2) O. c. canadensis, Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep; and (3) O. c. nelsoni, desert bighorn sheep which occur throughout the desert regions of the SW United States and NW Mexico. Further genetic studies have suggested modest divergence of desert bighorn sheep into lineages that exist in separate desert biomes as well. Once in danger of becoming extinct, a small population of desert bighorn sheep was re-introduced to Colorado National Monument in 1979. At least 230 sheep have been sighted and monitored across public lands of the Grand Valley and about 40 individuals thrive in and around Colorado National Monument.

U.S. National Park Service

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Colorado National Monument, Code: COLM

National Park Service Facebook Photos

Title: Colorado National Monument
URL: https://www.facebook.com/ColoradoNM/?fref=ts

20160101

01/01/2016

Public Can View

Organization: Colorado National Monument
Address: 1750 Rim Rock Drive, Fruita, CO 81521

Thursday, December 8, 2016 6:22:51 PM

Thursday, August 10, 2017 12:23:14 AM

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