CPW conducts annual bighorn sheep survey on Pikes Peak

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) staff and volunteers were up before dawn making their way up Pikes Peak Thursday morning for the annual bighorn sheep survey.

CPW said that despite the early morning wind on Pikes Peak, the crew of around 50 staff and volunteers was able to successfully locate sheep, finding separate groups of ewes (females) and rams (males). They will document the number of sheep, age class, and sex. Data is then cross-referenced to make sure people aren't counting the same sheep.

The crew uses 10 different routes up the mountain that biologists have established over the past 30 years of doing this critical work, CPW said.

According to the agency, the Pikes Peak bighorns are a legacy herd that has lived in the area for thousands of years.