Anza-Borrego park to count bighorns amid heat concerns
After months of waiting, scores of wildlife enthusiasts received word this past week that the AnzaBorrego Desert State Park will host its 50th annual bighorn sheep count this summer.
Many feared it might not happen. Last year's count was abruptly canceled after 68-year-old Don White died of heat exposure during the event. It was 116 degrees that day, and even a firefighter who responded to the scene was hospitalized.
The count — which is slated for Thursday through Saturday following the Fourth of July — is an integral part of the park's recovery plan for the federally endangered sheep.
The curly horned mountain climbers suffered a huge decline in population in the mid-1990s after ranchers sucked their watering holes dry, new homes and roads fragmented their habitat, and disease from invasive animals took them to the brink.
However, a decades-long recovery campaign using a rain-capture systems known as “guzzlers” has helped the sheep rebound.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife last recorded 884 sheep in 2016, up from less than 300 two decades prior. The agency has used helicopters, radio collars and field cameras for its official tallies.
Data collected by the citizen survey in Anza-Borrego park monitors a subpopulation of the entire range, which stretches from the Mexico border to Palm Springs. In 2019, volunteers spotted 273 sheep. The following year was truncated due to the pandemic, only recording 90 animals.
The count, which dates back to 1971, has drawn a loyal following. Many of the participants have also donated their time hiking in long distances to help maintain the remote guzzler systems.
Some of these roughly 90 volunteers expressed frustration about the decision to shut down the count last year. Others, such as longtime participant Gloria Kendall, said it was understandable.
However, the 78-yearold Escondido resident started to get concerned this year when March and then April passed without any communication from the park about whether it would host the event.
“They usually have let us know by now, so that people can have time to hike their water in when it's not so blazing hot,” Kendall said.
On Monday, Danny McCamish, the park's senior environmental scientist, emailed volunteers announcing the tentative dates for the sheep count: July 8 to 10. A meeting to discuss safety measures will be held two weeks in advance, according to the communication.
Kendall and other volunteers have recently expressed growing concerns that the park's new management is considering phasing out the sheep count, one of the longestrunning citizen science projects in the nation.
“It's our impression that they're anti-sheep count because it's extra work for them,” said Kendall. “We've had people in the past that are extremely dedicated and motivated, but they're retired or passed away.
Former park superintendent Mark Jorgensen expressed similar concerns, specifically about McCamish: “I hate to say this, he's a nice guy, but I find he does whatever he can to not get involved in work and planning ahead.”
McCamish, who joined the park in 2018, declined requests to comment for this story.
Stoking concerns, environmental scientist Mike Puzzo, who has organized the event for the last five years, quit his job at the park earlier this year. He did not return a request for comment.