Dall Sheep Species Background - Conservation Field Notes with Steven Rinella

Dall Sheep are present in 7 of Alaska's major mountain ranges. The population of Dall Sheep south of the Alaska Range have been holding steady, but decreasing slightly. Through sound conservation efforts, the future of Dall Sheep look promising.

• There are four subspecies of North American wild sheep:

  • Thinhorns which consist of the Dall's and Stone's sheep; and

  • Bighorns which consist of the desert and Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep.

• More than 90 percent of North American wild sheep reside on public lands.

• State, federal, crown land agencies as well as tribal entities play an important role in wild sheep management.

• Disease transmitted from domestic sheep to wild sheep is the No. 1 limiting factor to successful recovery of wild sheep populations.

• Some public lands allow domestic sheep grazing in suitable historic wild sheep habitat causing large scale die-offs with many years of poor wild sheep lamb recruitment.