On April 1, 2008, a California Highway Patrol Officer called at 1230hrs to report that a female bighorn sheep had been hit by a car and killed on Highway 74. He said a patron reported the incident, not the person who hit the sheep, and that the carcass was approximately 1 ½ miles south of Palm Desert not far past Call Box 915. Institute biologists immediately investigated the report and found a dead, unmarked adult bighorn ewe in the area that was described. The carcass was whole and the ewe was lying on her right side against the base of the mountain on the east side of Highway 74. The left horn was broken off, but other than that, there were no other obvious signs of trauma. The area of the incident was not near any pullouts, so it was not possible to safely investigate the carcass further. Highway Patrol and the Institute both reported the case to the California Department of Fish & Game dispatch.
Observation ID: 56779
Condition
Dead
Animal
Peninsular Bighorn Sheep
Identification Confidence
100% certain
Observation Date / Time
Observer
Bighorn Institute
Travel Frequency
weekly
Estimated Time Since Impact
definitely less than 6 hours
Roadway Speed Limit
55 mph
Road Type
state / rural highway
Location Description
Highway 74Below Vista Point