Environmental group sues over status of Sierra bighorn sheep

The government isn't doing enough to protect the endangered Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep, a population numbering only in the hundreds, an environmental group said in a federal lawsuit Thursday.

Among the most pressing concerns is the proximity of domestic sheep to bighorn habitat, a situation biologists fear is spreading diseases between the two populations, the Center for Biological Diversity said in its lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Sacramento.

The wild sheep live high in the Eastern Sierra, where they are threatened by mountain lions and genetic problems caused by inbreeding because of the small surviving population.

Before the turn of the century, the number of wild bighorns in the Sierra numbered in the thousands. Only about 100 survived as recently as 1998, a number that has crept up to around 300 today.



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