[TV static]
- NARRATOR: It was 30 years ago that the
"Texas Parks & Wildlife" television series,
originally known as "Made in Texas" got its start.
To celebrate this milestone, we're taking a look back at some
of the interesting stories and unique characters that
we've discovered over the past three decades.
In 1986 we looked at the status, and the future,
of the Desert Bighorn sheep.
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- I would like to see them like they used to be
when I was a young girl.
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- NARRATOR: Many people have never seen a Desert Bighorn.
Though there are still a few viable populations in the
United States, their numbers are rapidly declining.
In the west Texas mountains the population once numbered
more than a thousand.
They adapted to one of the harshest environments where
only the most robust survive.
Today there are no native Bighorns left in Texas.
Why?
The answer is entwined in a combination of factors.
West Texas was a barren and remote land, wild and untamed,
inaccessible to most, until the late 1800s when the railroad
began pushing its way west, opening this savage land
to settlers and commercial venturers.
The railroad cut a path right through the heart of
Bighorn country.
With it came the dreams and hopes to tame this wild land.
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Soon the mountains began to offer a profit to ranchers
and market hunter who took Bighorn, deer and antelope
out of the mountains and sent them east in refrigerated
railroad cars.
The railroad, the ranchers, and now the hunters
began to take their toll.
Uncontrolled hunting played only a minor role in the
demise of the Bighorn.
In fact, in 1903, Texas prohibited the hunting of
Bighorn, but this had a minimal impact on their survival.
What dealt the final, decisive blow was the ranching
of domestic sheep.
Not only did the Bighorn have to compete for forage,
they also had to fight parasites and diseases
brought in by domestic sheep.
Although Bighorns had developed the ability to adapt to the
harsh desert environment, their natural immune systems
were not able to combat these deadly new diseases.
By 1941, the total estimated population of Texas Bighorns
was less than 150.
The last sighting in 1960 counted two ewes in the
Sierra Diablo Mountains.
The demise of the Desert Bighorns in Texas
did not go unnoticed.
The state of Texas, aware of the rapid decline of Bighorn
numbers, began taking action in 1945 when they established
the first refuge.
The Sierra Diablo Wildlife Management Area was established
for the restoration of Desert Bighorn Sheep.
- Restoration and working with Desert Bighorn Sheep
is an expensive process.
It takes an inordinate commitment of both
manpower and funds.
It became evident to me that a number of years ago
that we needed some outside help.
I went to Dr. Red Duke of Houston, and approached him to
organize a private organization, which has developed into the
Texas Bighorn Society.
- And my idea was that we would just raise money
to help them do whatever it was that they wanted to do.
And that's build a brood pasture right out here.
And we did.
- NARRATOR: And after an investment of seven months
and more than three miles of fence, the project was completed
at a cost of $102,000.
In 1983, the Texas Bighorn Society donated the
brood facility to the state of Texas.
The Sierra Diablo Wildlife Management Area became the next
site of an intensive restoration effort for Desert Bighorns.
Texas Parks and Wildlife reached a trade out agreement with the
Nevada Department of Wildlife for the acquisition of sheep.
The capture and release of sheep is a very delicate operation,
and must be handled with the utmost care.
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- Slide it over there.
I have an adult ewe.
- NARRATOR: The crews carefully secured and controlled
the sheep.
They blindfolded the sheep to prevent them from being
terrified, and carried them to boats ready to transport
them across Lake Mead to waiting trucks where their journey
to Texas would begin.
Twenty-seven hours later they arrived at the
Sierra Diablo facility.
The sheep were carefully unloaded, and after proper
inoculations and tagging, they were released
into the brood pastures.
In all, the project stocked four pens with 23 ewes and 8 rams
from Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and wild sheep from prior releases
in the Sierra Diablo Mountains.
Supporter's motives for restoring Bighorns are often
criticized, because many are avid sports hunters who
might have hunted Bighorns.
- There's a lot of people that think the members
of the Society, since we're spending our time and efforts
and money out here to try to bring the sheep back,
that we want to bring them back just to hunt them and kill them,
but that's not really the case, because the sheep are to a
point to where if we are successful in all of our
efforts, we'll probably never have a huntable population
in any of our lifetimes.
- NARRATOR: The sport hunter is not only responsible for the
restoration of Texas Bighorns, but also for supporting
most of our wildlife resources.
Yet, what comes into question, is the fact that this endangered
Texas species is still classified as a big game animal.
The project goal is to restore the population
back to huntable numbers.
But why bother to revive a species only to designate
it a big game animal?
- Our goal with any endangered species is to restore it
back to a viable population.
I think, considering the fact that this program has been
supported since 1954 with hunter's dollars from the sale
of hunting licenses, and federal aid on hunting supplies,
guns and ammunition, I think it's only fair that our
objective be to provide a return to the people that
are supporting the program, which would be
a huntable population.
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- The public has to realize this is their wildlife.
It is not the property of the Parks and Wildlife Department.
We're merely your servants.
It the public doesn't care, wildlife conservation
will suffer.
- NARRATOR: Although the plight of the Desert Bighorn is
uncertain, if the tenacity and commitment of its supporters is
any indication, then Desert Bighorns have a promising
future in Texas.
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- WOMAN: For them not to be in the mountains, I don't think it
would be right to the North American people.
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