Bighorn sheep in Glacier National Park

Bighorn sheep in the American West are a valued big game species and enjoyed by tourists visiting national parks. The populations in Glacier National Park make up one of the largest metapopulations in the continental U.S., and USGS NOROCK scientists have been studying them to inform the management of this charismatic and economically valuable species.

Glacier National Park (GNP) is considered a stronghold for a large diversity of plant and animal species and harbors some of the last remaining populations of threatened and endangered species such as grizzly bear and bull trout, as well as non threatened, yet ecologically important species such as bighorn sheep and black bear. The mountain ecosystems of GNP that support these species are dynamic...