Mountain Lion, Sheep Movements Focus of Desert Wildlife Study

PALM SPRINGS (CNS) - The challenges, habits and potential perils
impacting wildlife moving through native turf around Highway 62 north of Palm
Springs will be closely observed during an upcoming campaign intended to help
them, it was announced today.
  

Wildlands Network, a Salt Lake City-based nonprofit, will be
partnering with others, including the Rice, Washington-based Rogue Detection
Teams and the Joshua Tree-based Mojave Desert Land Trust, to initiate a study
in September that will entail setting up temporary observation posts along
Highway 62.
  

The research will continue into next year.
  

Mountain lions, bighorn sheep and bobcats will be watched to identify
prospective benefits of several planned wildlife crossings intersecting the two-
lane corridor, according to Wildlands Network biologist Christina Aiello.
  

``Mountain lions are considered the most at-risk species in the
project and are listed as threatened in California,'' Aiello said.
   She said researchers don't yet have a reliable estimate of the area's
lion population.
  

``We don't know how many there are, but we must find out to ease
concerns about isolation and inbreeding," Aiello said.
  

Researchers will survey areas that include the Sand to Snow National
Monument, Joshua Tree National Park, Mission Creek Preserve and other protected
areas in the Morongo and Coachella valleys, according to Wildlands Network.
  

The research will examine how Highway 62 affects animal movement,
aiding researchers in designing crossings.
  

``The crossing project is a long-term process," Aiello said. ``We will
be building structures and fencing to reduce deaths and give animals a safe
way to cross the road."
  

The objective is for construction to begin within the next three years.
  

The Mojave Desert Land Trust received grant funding from the
Sacramento-based Wildlife Conservation Board and the Coachella Valley Mountains
Conservancy to initiate the crossings.
  

The Coachella Valley Conservation Commission is also assisting, while
the U.S. Bureau of Land Management is helping secure authorizations to work on
public lands, according to Aiello.
  

Field biologists will work with trained rescue dogs to locate mountain
lion and bobcat scat, while other researchers will collect bighorn sheep
scat, according to Wildlands Network. Samples will be sent to laboratories for
DNA testing to help identify individual animals and study their movement across
the highway, the nonprofit said.
  

While bighorn sheep are state-protected, they are not currently
threatened or endangered under federal law, according to Aiello.
  

``They suffered a sharp decline in the early 1900s but have since been
recovering. Our research will monitor them to help prevent another
decline," Aiello said, adding that bobcats are also not a designated threatened
species.
  

``Researchers want to better understand how often bobcats cross roads
and how roadway deaths can be reduced," Aiello said.
  

Volunteer opportunities for this effort are expected to become
available early next year, though locations and other details have not been
finalized.
  

Volunteers are expected to have the chance to document wildlife deaths
on roads and collect data on animal populations.
  

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