GUADALUPE MOUNTAINS An Administrative History

CHAPTER IX: NATURAL RESOURCE ISSUES (continued)

Reintroduction of Native Species

Park Service policy encourages the reintroduction of native species into parks when adequate habitat exists to support them, when they do not pose a threat to the safety of visitors, and when the species disappeared because of a human-induced change in the ecosystem. At Guadalupe Mountains, one native species, the Montezuma quail, was successfully reintroduced. Last known to be in the parklands in the 1960s, the species probably was extirpated by loss of cover caused by heavy grazing by livestock. In 1983 the Park Service approved the reintroduction program. The first 24 birds, transported from Arizona under an approved state permit, were released in Dog Canyon in December 1984. Over the next six months the trappers from Arizona brought 36 more birds to Dog Canyon. After release of the first batch, subsequent batches spent several weeks in an acclimatization pen to reduce the effects of stress created by capture and transportation. When the birds appeared to be healthy and adjusted, the ranger caring for them just left the door to the pen open. Phil Koepp recalled the reintroduction with some amusement. Wildlife specialists agreed that the environment in Upper Dog Canyon was as nearly perfect for Montezuma quail as could be provided. Apparently the quail were less than appreciative--they headed for the Hughes ranch! However, the loss was only temporary. In October 1986 a reliable sighting reported a covey of 20 Montezuma quail, including a number of chicks, on the road near the Dog Canyon campground. [25]

For a number of years park managers also have considered reintroduction of the desert bighorn sheep. The last reliable sighting of this species in the parklands was in 1938, when 15 to 19 sheep were reported in and around McKittrick Canyon. Historically, desert bighorns also utilized Dog Canyon. In 1979 and 1980, reliable sightings of desert bighorns were reported on the western rim of the Guadalupe Mountains in New Mexico, some 25 to 40 miles north of the park. Wildlife specialists did not know whether those sheep were a remnant of the original population, or whether they migrated from a group released in 1973 in the Sierra Diablo Mountains, south of the Guadalupes. [26]

Several obstacles prevented reintroducing the desert bighorn as easily as the Montezuma quail. The west side of the park and the McKittrick drainage provided suitable habitat, but the amount and distribution of water limited the potential range for the animals and would force them to compete with mule deer, elk, exotic Barbary sheep, feral goats, and domestic sheep and cattle. Contact with domestic stock also would expose the bighorns to fatal diseases and parasites. Another contingency, a proposed trail from the top of the escarpment to the lowlands on the west side, would alter the habitat enough so that the Park Service could not directly reintroduce the sheep into the park. In 1987 resource managers chose to wait and see, but to cooperate with efforts by state game departments to re-establish the desert bighorn on nearby non-park lands and to seek their cooperation in reintroducing the animals into the park. [27]

CONTINUE >>>