TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The 15 sheep working on “A” Mountain have a simple job: eat as much invasive buffelgrass as they can.
Sonya Norman works with the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, and explained when they moved the sheep most recently, an unexpected monsoon storm rolled through.
“Right when we opened the gate to the enclosure,” Norman explains, “a bolt of lightning struck, rain started coming down and they couldn’t see where they were going and they crashed right through the little string corridor that was supposed to keep them.”
The sheep eventually made it to a newly designated area on the mountain. Norman and other researchers want to compare how well the method works in similar environments, and see whether targeted grazing could be a sustainable, long-term strategy to manage buffelgrass.
When dealing with sheep targeting buffelgrass, nutrition is important. “They are eating just the part for them that is still a little bit more delicious,” Norman explained. That means they’re mostly chewing through the softer parts and leaving behind the tougher stems.
To make sure the sheep are still getting the nutrients they need, they’re supplementing their diet. “They have a little pail of a mixture of molasses, and minerals, and protein,” Norman says.
The sheep arrived on the mountain in March, and so far, Norman says there haven’t been any unexpected surprises. The plan is to move them again around mid-August, once they’ve eaten enough in their current section.
Find previous coverage of this story here.
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Athena Kehoe is a reporter for KGUN 9, she joined the KGUN 9 team in July of 2024 after graduating from Arizona State University. Share your story ideas with Athena by emailing athena.kehoe@kgun9.com or by connecting on X/Twitter.
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