Nevada’s bighorn sheep may be jeopardy. The iconic symbol of the West, usually able to thrive in the what’s considered the dryest state in the nation, may no longer be able to. With over 200 days since the “measurable rain” has fallen in the Las Vegas Valley, the current “dry streak” is resulting in a lack of food and the possibility of “relocation out of state,” according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

“You can provide as much water as you want to, but it’s going to eventually get to the point where there’s not enough groceries on the ground — or vegetation,” said Joe Bennett, the Nevada Department of Wildlife’s (NDWO) Southern Region game supervisor. “I don’t know when we’ll reach that threshold.”

The state is used to drought, but the last two decades have been severe, with higher temperatures and longer periods of time without rain. 

“If we don’t take action, there definitely will be hundreds of animals that will die,” said Mike Cox, NDOW’s bighorn sheep biologist, noting that the “populations most at risk right now reside in the Muddy Mountains and Arrow Canyon Range near Moapa, McCullough Range on the outskirts of Henderson and the southern Spotted Range near Indian Springs.”

The herd in Boulder City has been deemed safe because of their vicinity with Lake Mead along with plenty of year-round grazing. 

To help bighorn sheep, NDOW fills 9,000-to-11,500-gallon tanks – aka water guzzlers – to provide drinking water, using remote sensing technology to know when a tank needs to be refilled, according to Las Vegas Review-Journal. However, providing water is only one part of the equation – and officials can’t figure out a way to provide supplemental food when lack of rain causes required vegetation to dry-out. 

Further, because the landscape is so dry and vegetation scarce, officials are also looking at the possibility of relocating bighorn sheep though that adds another potential issue: exposure and spread of disease among currently healthy wild sheep. 

“We just have to make sure, wherever we likely move them, that we’re not putting them in a bad situation,” said Bennett.

For now, NDOW and other NGOs focused on bighorn sheep plan to meet to determine a bighorn sheep management strategy that will help current and future herds. An official plan will be presented at the next wildlife board meeting on March 7 and 8.