Bighorn Ewe

Badlands National Park, South Dakota

One of the biggest threats facing bighorn sheep is loss of habitat, fragmentation and degradation. The leading cause of this, human development. Urban expansion, fences and roads all lead to fragmentation of the herds. These obstacles can force the bighorn into more dangerous areas. Roads can lead to deadly collisions and higher mortality rates while fences prevent natural movements of the bighorns making food harder to come by.

Conservation efforts have been ongoing since the 1920s. Translocating herds has helped reestablish bighorn populations where historic populations had been lost. Due to these efforts, self sustaining populations have taken hold in areas of Nebraska, the Dakotas, and Texas where native bighorns were long gone.

My favorite place to go and photograph these powerful animals is in Badlands National Park in South Dakota. The bighorn sheep there have afforded me some great shots and are not hard to find if you know where to look.

By bringing this print into your home, you aren't just owning a moment of nature's resilience, you are actively protecting it, with 5% of your purchase going directly to the National Wildlife Federation.