ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT PROFILE

PROTECTION STATUS: Endangered

YEAR PLACED ON LIST: 1999 (emergency rule); 2000 (final rule)

CRITICAL HABITAT: Approximately 417,577 acres in Tuolumne, Mono, Fresno, Inyo, and Tulare counties, California designated in 2008

RECOVERY PLAN: 2008

RANGE: High-elevation areas on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada mountains, including parts of Yosemite National Park, Sequoia National Park, Lee Vining Canyon, Wheeler Crest, Mount Baxter, Mount Williamson, and Mount Langley in Mono and Inyo counties, California

THREATS: Diseases spread by domestic sheep, predation, small population size, competition for forage, watershed degradation, poorly planned human recreation, and some development

POPULATION TREND: After increasing from 250 in 1978 to almost 300 in 1985, the total number of bighorn sheep in the Sierra Nevada declined by about 60 percent to just more than 100 in 1995. Since emergency listing in 1999, numbers have since increased; today there are more than 300 individuals.