Mountain lion, sheep movements focus of desert wildlife study

PALM SPRINGS (KESQ) - 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.