Wildlife captures providing insights to big game species

Wildlife officials bolstered research and monitoring efforts of big game species in Nebraska with the help of a contracted helicopter crew in February.

With cooperation from landowners, elk, mule deer and bighorn sheep were captured, processed and returned to the landscape in specific regions of the state.

Bighorn Sheep

The most recent of the captures was Feb. 23 when 32 bighorn sheep were fitted with radio collars in the Wildcat Hills and Pine Ridge. The captures were part of a continuing effort to track movements, distribution, habitat use, survival and disease prevalence.

In recent years, bighorn sheep captures have been conducted annually by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission in collaboration with many conservation partners. Once extirpated, the species stands at about 220 sheep in the Panhandle.

Mule Deer

In mid-February, 58 mule deer were fitted with tracking collars or solar ear tags in the Wildcat Hills for a study aimed at investigating the impact of chronic wasting disease in the species. Additional biological samples were collected for data about mule deer health and to develop and evaluate tools for CWD detection in live animals.

The research project, now in its third year, is a partnership between Game and Parks, the National Wildlife Research Center and Colorado State University. Researchers are working to develop understanding about how CWD affects deer populations, identify areas of increased transmission through accumulation on the land, and determine CWD infection status and behavioral responses by observing how animals use the landscape.

Elk

In a research project led by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, elk captures were conducted in hunting units 7 and 14 of the state’s central and north-central regions Feb. 2-6.

This is the fourth and final year of the project’s capture phase with 28 elk captured and radio-collared. Since 2022, 229 elk have been collared throughout the species’ range in Nebraska.

The project is evaluating resource selection, movement, survival and population dynamics of elk.

The analysis phase has begun and is set for completion in 2028. Findings will guide management decisions for the species.