Another Loss in Kicking Horse Canyon

Another loss to the Kicking Horse Canyon Bighorn sheep herd was discovered last week, currently, there are 18 animals in the herd. The second largest ram in the herd was found to have perished in the last few weeks. This ram was collared as a part of the GDRGC BHS monitoring project, so locating the deceased ram included the recovery of the GPS collar it had been carrying.

This collar was on the ram since May 2020 and collected nearly 5000 locations. These locations are used to monitor the changes in habitat use in association with Kicking Horse Canyon construction activities and inform future sheep management actions.

Postmortem inspection of the ram and the location it was discovered ruled out predation but was inconclusive on the cause of death for the ram. The last loss to this herd occurred in close proximity to where this ram was discovered. The previous loss was a young ram that was struck by a vehicle on the TransCanada Highway.

PHoto credit: Stephanie Higgins