Wildlife
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2020 Annual Report 37
B I G H O R N S H E E P I N T H E W I L D C A T H I L L S
The expansion of the Wildcat Hills' bighorn sheep herds has provided significant recreational
opportunities, including viewing, photography and hunting.{In 2017, the current state-record ram
was harvested in the Wildcat Hills, scoring 193 points on the Boone and Crockett official scoring
scale. The Wildcat Hills bighorns have become an iconic and majestic species in the region and
have adapted well to their once native range. Research has shown healthy herds with good to
excellent recruitment rates and good distribution of sheep throughout the landscape.
Thousands of Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep once lived in the Wildcat Hills of Nebraska's
southern Panhandle before being extirpated from the state by the early 1900s. Efforts to
re-establish bighorn sheep in the Wildcat Hills began in 2001 with the first reintroduction at
the Cedar Canyon Wildlife Management Area. The Cedar Canyon herd came from Colorado. The
next reintroduction, in 2007 near William's Gap WMA, brought the Hubbard's Gap heard from
Montana.{Each herd adapted well to their new home and showed good population growth.{The
Cedar Canyon herd suffered initial losses to Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease and later to bacterial
pneumonia. In recent years it has shown improvement, reaching its highest population level in
2020 of 66 individuals. The Hubbard's Gap herd has shown more fluctuation in growth but overall
has steadily increased reaching its highest population of 198 in 2020.
Bighorn sheep at Williams Gap Wildlife Management Area in Wildcat Hills.
