{"id":2554,"date":"2016-02-29T10:52:40","date_gmt":"2016-02-29T18:52:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lillooet.stewardship.foundation\/?page_id=2554"},"modified":"2016-02-29T16:31:23","modified_gmt":"2016-03-01T00:31:23","slug":"shulaps","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.lillooet.stewardship.foundation\/environmental-sections\/wildlife\/ungulates\/california-big-horn-sheep\/shulaps\/","title":{"rendered":"Shulaps"},"content":{"rendered":"
California Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis californiana) are suited to rugged, mostly treeless terrain, to foraging sites with low-growing grasses to regions with shallow snow cover. They occur in the driest climate and on south to south-west oriented mountains. Bighorn sheep usually spend the winter on low-elevation bunchgrass ranges, ponderosa pine and douglas fir zones. They graze cured grasses such as fescue and bluebunch wheatgrass, which are key species on most winter range. A few herds of California Bighorn Sheep, among them a herd in the Shulaps, spend the winter in windblown alpine ridges where they also spend the summer.<\/p>\n
The Shulaps are historical Bighorn Sheep habitat and once the entire range was inhabited by sheep. Presently the Bighorn Sheep population is displaced from the North half of the range. Due to increased human access by logging roads (motorcycles, ATV, above 1500m), sheep are increasingly disturbed in their natural habitat by outdoor recreation vehicles (ORV). Bighorn Sheep are sensitive to noise-induced stress and are displaced from the North end of the Shulaps mountain range.<\/p>\n
California big horn sheep are currently on the Blue List of terrestrial vertebrates and classified as vulnerable. Previous studies have shown that human activity and increased stress results in displacement of sheep herds, smaller populations sizes and decreased survival rates.<\/p>\n