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Game and Fish spots 30 Bighorn sheep in Catalina mountains

Posted at 3:22 PM, Oct 01, 2018
and last updated 2018-10-01 18:22:28-04

Arizona Game and Fish said they spotted 30 Bighorn sheep in the Catalina Mountains last week. 

They said some of the 30 were collared and some weren't.

The collars come from a relocation project that aimed to boost the Bighorn population in the Catalinas.

Bighorn sheep are native to the mountain range but started dying off more than 20 years ago. 

In 2014, 31 of the sheep were transplanted into the Catalinas to help re-establish the herd.

That was one year after two-thirds of a transplanted herd were killed by mountain lions.

Game and Fish said there are now more than 60 Bighorn sheep in the range.

Last October they estimated more than 80 members of the herd in the Catalinas.