1 00:00:09,032 --> 00:00:10,032 [Patrick Cummings] Well sheep are hard to see. 2 00:00:10,032 --> 00:00:12,071 [Kathleen Longshore] People would see bighorn sheep down by Mercury, 3 00:00:12,071 --> 00:00:13,119 mostly rams, rams wander. 4 00:00:14,019 --> 00:00:16,093 [Patrick Cummings] They're hard to see and there's probably not 5 00:00:16,093 --> 00:00:17,093 very many of them. 6 00:00:17,093 --> 00:00:21,093 [Kathleen Longshore] We never saw evidence of a reproducing population 7 00:00:21,093 --> 00:00:25,148 until we started the project on cougars and found that they were eating bighorn sheep. 8 00:00:26,048 --> 00:00:29,017 [Brian Jansen] Mostly they kill what is available to them 9 00:00:29,449 --> 00:00:30,449 in their environment. 10 00:00:30,449 --> 00:00:34,190 [Blake Malo] We use a helicopter to capture various types 11 00:00:34,019 --> 00:00:35,019 of wildlife. 12 00:00:35,019 --> 00:00:37,065 [Brian Jansen] They're very unpredictable, they're extremely 13 00:00:37,065 --> 00:00:38,065 secretive. 14 00:00:38,065 --> 00:00:40,074 [Derek Hall] We had had some observations of mountain lions 15 00:00:41,055 --> 00:00:42,114 around active projects and facilities. 16 00:00:43,014 --> 00:00:46,018 There was a biologist attacked in the early 90s. 17 00:00:46,054 --> 00:00:50,143 So, from a safety standpoint we wanted to understand kind of the core range, the habitat 18 00:00:51,043 --> 00:00:56,102 use of mountain lions. 19 00:00:56,489 --> 00:01:02,710 [Narrator] The Nevada National Security Site, formerly 20 00:01:02,071 --> 00:01:09,122 the Nevada Test Site is a 1,360-square-mile rugged landscape 68 miles northwest of Las 21 00:01:10,022 --> 00:01:12,381 Vegas, Nevada. 22 00:01:12,579 --> 00:01:16,530 Scientists here are collaborating to learn more about the newly documented populations 23 00:01:16,053 --> 00:01:18,090 of bighorn sheep and cougars. 24 00:01:18,009 --> 00:01:20,016 And it's not easy. 25 00:01:20,097 --> 00:01:25,125 [Kathleen Longshore] We're studying bighorn sheep and cougars on 26 00:01:26,025 --> 00:01:31,053 the Nevada National Security Site looking at predator-prey interactions. 27 00:01:31,053 --> 00:01:34,092 And the project started as a study on cougars. 28 00:01:34,092 --> 00:01:40,041 What happened is when we first put collars on cougars we found out that they were actually 29 00:01:40,869 --> 00:01:41,908 eating bighorn sheep. 30 00:01:42,259 --> 00:01:44,323 [Narrator] Central questions of the study are how many 31 00:01:44,899 --> 00:01:49,810 bighorn sheep and cougars live here and what is the status of their populations? 32 00:01:49,081 --> 00:01:53,140 And health studies of captured animals are clarifying whether wildlife here are at all 33 00:01:53,869 --> 00:01:56,390 contaminated by radiation. 34 00:01:56,039 --> 00:02:02,698 [Kathleen Longshore] For bighorn sheep, life is about risk, risk 35 00:02:03,049 --> 00:02:04,540 from predation. 36 00:02:04,054 --> 00:02:09,075 And so in order to escape from their predators, they tend to stay in steep terrain, rocky 37 00:02:09,075 --> 00:02:10,075 terrain. 38 00:02:10,075 --> 00:02:14,168 And they particularly pick these types of areas when lambs are born. 39 00:02:15,068 --> 00:02:20,144 So, in order for the ewes to protect the lambs, that's the best they do is to stay up in these 40 00:02:21,044 --> 00:02:22,213 rocky areas. 41 00:02:22,609 --> 00:02:26,684 And the subspecies that lives in the desert is Nelson's bighorn sheep, and they are able 42 00:02:27,359 --> 00:02:30,425 to exist on these desert mountain ranges. 43 00:02:31,019 --> 00:02:37,290 Mostly they eat shrubs, and during the springtime they focus on annuals, they eat a lot of winter 44 00:02:37,029 --> 00:02:38,029 annuals. 45 00:02:38,029 --> 00:02:40,104 Little plants that you see flowering out in the desert. 46 00:02:41,004 --> 00:02:45,008 Sheep tend to avoid areas that are very bushy because they don't have good visibility. 47 00:02:45,044 --> 00:02:47,683 So, they like to see where the predators are. 48 00:02:48,079 --> 00:02:51,550 We need to know about their general health because there have been some disease issues 49 00:02:51,055 --> 00:02:52,070 in this general area. 50 00:02:52,007 --> 00:02:56,066 There was an outbreak of pneumonia in the population in southern Nevada and it's been 51 00:02:57,029 --> 00:02:58,029 pretty serious. 52 00:02:58,029 --> 00:03:00,082 [Patrick Cummings] Understanding what the health profile here 53 00:03:00,082 --> 00:03:05,087 is on Department of Energy land on the Nevada National Security Site is going to help us 54 00:03:05,087 --> 00:03:07,130 understand the bigger picture. 55 00:03:08,003 --> 00:03:12,372 [Narrator] An important part of the bighorn story, scientists 56 00:03:12,669 --> 00:03:14,510 learned, are the cougars. 57 00:03:14,051 --> 00:03:17,112 [Kathleen Longshore] Cougars are very solitary animals. 58 00:03:18,012 --> 00:03:22,079 Their densities are low on the landscape, particularly in the desert where prey densities 59 00:03:22,079 --> 00:03:23,079 are low. 60 00:03:23,079 --> 00:03:26,308 They have large home ranges and they are primarily nocturnal. 61 00:03:27,019 --> 00:03:31,530 So, it's really very rare to see a cougar out when you're just out hiking. 62 00:03:31,053 --> 00:03:33,062 Especially during the daytime. 63 00:03:34,043 --> 00:03:38,632 [Derek Hall] One tool we use to monitor mountain lion activity 64 00:03:39,019 --> 00:03:42,084 around the Nevada National Security Site is with motion activated cameras. 65 00:03:42,669 --> 00:03:47,310 We've set up 20 to 30 of these cameras, over the last 10 years, at various sites around 66 00:03:47,031 --> 00:03:48,031 the NNSS. 67 00:03:48,031 --> 00:03:54,128 And we've found actually documented 680 images, recorded 680 images, both video clips and 68 00:03:55,028 --> 00:04:01,097 photographs of mountain lions, which is a staggering number of images to understand 69 00:04:01,097 --> 00:04:05,109 where these lions are found and the frequency of use of these different sites. 70 00:04:06,009 --> 00:04:09,928 And it really helped us with the trapping effort as well, knowing where to set the traps 71 00:04:10,009 --> 00:04:13,880 and where to look for the lions to get them captured. 72 00:04:13,088 --> 00:04:16,967 [Narrator] The cougar, also commonly known as puma, mountain 73 00:04:17,759 --> 00:04:21,530 lion, or panther, is the largest cat in North America. 74 00:04:21,053 --> 00:04:25,109 An average male weighs 150 pounds. 75 00:04:26,009 --> 00:04:31,032 Cougars are known for their strength, agility, and exceptional ability to jump. 76 00:04:31,032 --> 00:04:36,116 Their powerful legs allow them to jump 30 feet from a standstill, or jump 15 feet straight 77 00:04:37,016 --> 00:04:39,078 up a cliff wall. 78 00:04:39,078 --> 00:04:43,135 Mainly solitary, cougars interact only to mate. 79 00:04:44,035 --> 00:04:48,104 Females then raise the young while males return to their solitary lifestyle. 80 00:04:49,004 --> 00:04:51,043 Each cougar establishes its own territory. 81 00:04:51,043 --> 00:04:53,078 They need a lot of room to roam. 82 00:04:53,078 --> 00:04:56,079 [Derek Hall] The environment that we have here is the driest 83 00:04:56,088 --> 00:05:00,165 ecosystem in North America with the Mojave Desert, transitioning into the Great Basin 84 00:05:01,065 --> 00:05:02,065 Desert. 85 00:05:02,065 --> 00:05:06,116 So, it's a very dry, arid area, prey density is pretty low, so these animals are having 86 00:05:07,016 --> 00:05:10,018 to cover large areas to support themselves. 87 00:05:10,018 --> 00:05:13,033 [Narrator] The cougar research here began due to concerns 88 00:05:13,033 --> 00:05:17,091 by the Nevada National Security Site over safety for the site's employees. 89 00:05:17,091 --> 00:05:23,105 In 1991, a biologist here survived a rare attack by a hungry malnourished cougar. 90 00:05:24,005 --> 00:05:27,016 [Derek Hall] So, from a safety standpoint we wanted to 91 00:05:27,016 --> 00:05:33,054 understand kind of the core range the habitat use of mountain lions also get a handle on 92 00:05:33,054 --> 00:05:38,118 how many lions are out there, population estimate, and just learn more about their movements 93 00:05:39,018 --> 00:05:42,065 and potential risk to workers out there. 94 00:05:42,065 --> 00:05:48,092 So, we started with cameras with Erin Boydston with USGS, worked with her, set up a bunch 95 00:05:48,092 --> 00:05:52,097 of cameras around the site in mountain lion habitat. 96 00:05:52,097 --> 00:05:54,162 [Narrator] Trail cameras were placed at springs, which 97 00:05:55,062 --> 00:06:00,106 are important watering holes and also at sites along roads and in canyons to look for evidence 98 00:06:01,006 --> 00:06:02,006 of cougars. 99 00:06:02,006 --> 00:06:06,092 [Derek Hall] We got a lot of pictures of both young adults, 100 00:06:06,092 --> 00:06:10,111 male, female so we knew we had a reproducing population of mountain lions. 101 00:06:11,011 --> 00:06:14,052 We had somewhat of an understanding of where the lions were. 102 00:06:14,052 --> 00:06:16,083 They were using roads as travel corridors. 103 00:06:16,083 --> 00:06:19,140 They were using areas around springs. 104 00:06:20,004 --> 00:06:25,026 We documented six individual lions within a 90-square-kilometer area over a 2-month 105 00:06:25,062 --> 00:06:26,062 period. 106 00:06:26,062 --> 00:06:29,135 With the data we had from the camera traps, we knew we had a reproducing population of 107 00:06:30,035 --> 00:06:35,566 mountain lions on the site so we wanted to understand their movements better and so we 108 00:06:35,881 --> 00:06:41,210 took it to the next level and worked with USGS who contracted with Brian Jansen to come 109 00:06:41,021 --> 00:06:44,120 and capture mountain lions for us so that we could put the radio transmitters on them 110 00:06:45,002 --> 00:06:48,084 and track them with radio transmitters on them and really understand their movements 111 00:06:49,002 --> 00:06:55,064 and their habitat use and their diet as well, using the radio telemetry. 112 00:06:55,064 --> 00:07:01,325 [Brian Jansen] Most things in life you can eventually, with 113 00:07:01,901 --> 00:07:03,470 a lot of practice, master. 114 00:07:03,047 --> 00:07:06,048 You just cannot master catching a lion. 115 00:07:06,057 --> 00:07:11,061 Every lion seems to have a whole bunch of aces up their sleeve, that they've always 116 00:07:11,061 --> 00:07:14,102 got the upper hand and it's dang near luck to catch one. 117 00:07:15,002 --> 00:07:18,006 I'm Brian Jansen and I'm a mountain lion and bighorn sheep biologist. 118 00:07:18,006 --> 00:07:23,077 So, I've been camped out here for oh about the last 18 days on the Nevada National Security 119 00:07:23,077 --> 00:07:25,171 Site in a region called Rainier Mesa. 120 00:07:26,071 --> 00:07:32,077 Tracking lions, looking for fresh sign, setting traps, and just trying to find em and catch 121 00:07:32,077 --> 00:07:35,084 em; they're pretty difficult to even find let alone catch. 122 00:07:36,047 --> 00:07:37,126 There's two ways I capture mountain lions. 123 00:07:38,026 --> 00:07:43,031 I use foot snares and I place those on trails that I know mountain lions are going to use 124 00:07:43,031 --> 00:07:47,088 either from recent sign or just my estimation. 125 00:07:47,088 --> 00:07:49,102 And then we also use the hounds. 126 00:07:50,002 --> 00:07:54,007 So, on a normal day what we would do is check our traps in the morning and if we don't find 127 00:07:54,007 --> 00:08:00,013 anything in the traps, I'll go to places where I think a lion might have gone or places that 128 00:08:00,013 --> 00:08:07,014 lions frequent and park, and then we usually walk a loop about ten miles, me and the dogs. 129 00:08:07,023 --> 00:08:11,086 And I'm looking for tracks at the same time the dogs are sniffing for lion scent. 130 00:08:11,086 --> 00:08:15,120 Sometimes I can't see the tracks because the ground is hard but they leave scent, and the 131 00:08:16,002 --> 00:08:17,050 dogs will pick up the scent. 132 00:08:17,068 --> 00:08:22,083 I will let the dogs scent trail the lion as far as they can and I will follow the dogs 133 00:08:22,083 --> 00:08:23,083 on foot. 134 00:08:23,083 --> 00:08:27,086 And in the course of a day they might lose the track four or five times and I'll have 135 00:08:27,086 --> 00:08:28,124 to help them find it. 136 00:08:29,024 --> 00:08:30,056 And we keep going. 137 00:08:30,056 --> 00:08:33,955 While we're doing that, the lion is sleeping in their day bed, because they're nocturnal 138 00:08:34,459 --> 00:08:38,533 and they walk around all night and so we're following the scent trail of what they did 139 00:08:39,199 --> 00:08:40,221 the previous night. 140 00:08:40,419 --> 00:08:46,230 And when we get to the lions bed, the lions not there anymore because he heard the dogs 141 00:08:46,023 --> 00:08:48,026 coming and they get up and move. 142 00:08:48,026 --> 00:08:53,117 When we hit that spot, that scent is so fresh the dogs blow out of there fast and usually 143 00:08:54,017 --> 00:08:56,031 catch the lion within a quarter to a half a mile. 144 00:08:56,031 --> 00:09:01,100 When the dogs start putting pressure on the lion, the lion will find a place to seek refuge. 145 00:09:02,000 --> 00:09:06,068 They'll either climb up a tree, go down in a hole, or get out on the edge of a cliff. 146 00:09:06,068 --> 00:09:09,090 Some place that they can protect themselves from the dogs. 147 00:09:09,009 --> 00:09:13,098 And then I tie the dogs up because I don't want any dog to fight with the lion and then 148 00:09:14,079 --> 00:09:16,094 I dart the lion and immobilize it. 149 00:09:16,094 --> 00:09:19,096 I protect it from falling while it's being immobilized. 150 00:09:19,096 --> 00:09:23,183 Once it's immobilized I bring it to a safe location and then take whatever the project 151 00:09:24,083 --> 00:09:25,083 wants. 152 00:09:25,083 --> 00:09:27,111 [Narrator] The tranquilized lions are weighed. 153 00:09:28,011 --> 00:09:33,030 The scientists look for injuries, they take body measurements, they look for parasites, 154 00:09:33,003 --> 00:09:34,099 and sample for evidence of disease. 155 00:09:35,026 --> 00:09:40,605 They examine their teeth, they draw blood and attach an ear tag. 156 00:09:40,839 --> 00:09:45,300 Finally, they fit the lion with a satellite, GPS tracking collar. 157 00:09:45,003 --> 00:09:47,099 The rest of the research begins after that. 158 00:09:48,026 --> 00:09:52,093 They release the animal on site and begin to follow as the satellite data pours in. 159 00:09:52,093 --> 00:10:00,189 [Brian Jansen] Ok guys come on. 160 00:10:01,089 --> 00:10:08,180 The two lions I just recently collared are both adult males, one was about 5 to 6 years 161 00:10:09,008 --> 00:10:10,067 old, one was about 3 to 4 years old. 162 00:10:11,039 --> 00:10:14,063 They weigh about the same, 125 and 130 pounds. 163 00:10:14,063 --> 00:10:19,099 The project will be able to track these lions wherever they go for the next 2 years I believe. 164 00:10:19,099 --> 00:10:24,136 So, one of the things we found in the past are these lions just make tremendous movement. 165 00:10:25,036 --> 00:10:29,112 One lion I collared on the site in a matter of a week went 70 miles to the west across 166 00:10:30,012 --> 00:10:36,051 Death Valley, killed deer over in the Cottonwood Mountains, crossed Death Valley back, hunted 167 00:10:36,051 --> 00:10:42,077 around in the Grapevine, went up by Goldfield, comes back to the site, back across Death 168 00:10:42,077 --> 00:10:43,098 Valley. 169 00:10:43,098 --> 00:10:46,156 You could never do that kind of research without these satellite collars. 170 00:10:47,056 --> 00:10:51,142 I mean the things that we're learning and the extent to which these lions are roaming 171 00:10:52,042 --> 00:10:58,086 just far surpasses what we ever knew before. 172 00:10:58,086 --> 00:11:02,145 [Narrator] GPS collars that permit tracking are also 173 00:11:03,045 --> 00:11:07,069 a crucial tool for studying bighorn sheep. 174 00:11:07,069 --> 00:11:14,146 [Kathleen Longshore] Today we are putting GPS collars on bighorn 175 00:11:15,046 --> 00:11:17,085 sheep in the Nevada National Security Site. 176 00:11:17,085 --> 00:11:19,091 [Blake Malo] You're heading back to the airport afterwards 177 00:11:19,091 --> 00:11:20,091 right? 178 00:11:20,091 --> 00:11:22,143 [Kathleen Longshore] Yup, this is a new population of bighorn sheep 179 00:11:23,043 --> 00:11:29,392 that we just found existed a couple of years ago, and we need to have information about 180 00:11:29,779 --> 00:11:35,110 where the sheep are, how many there are possibly, their movement patterns. 181 00:11:35,011 --> 00:11:39,800 [Blake Malo] Our gunner is the guy in the front seat generally 182 00:11:39,899 --> 00:11:45,120 and he leans out and shoots the gun to catch the animal. 183 00:11:45,012 --> 00:11:49,090 Usually that's the first animal that he'll net, and then the mugger will hop out of the 184 00:11:49,009 --> 00:11:55,095 back seat and he'll go out and he'll restrain the animal and he'll work that one up while 185 00:11:56,076 --> 00:12:03,085 me and the gunner will go out and catch another one. 186 00:12:04,066 --> 00:12:08,144 Flying a helicopter, especially a small single engine helicopter in 30-mile-an-hour winds 187 00:12:09,044 --> 00:12:13,051 can be challenging at times especially when you're working in steep terrain and you're 188 00:12:13,051 --> 00:12:18,086 trying to get an animal to go to a certain spot where you can safely make a capture on 189 00:12:18,086 --> 00:12:32,184 it and your crew can get out and work it up where it needs to be, too. 190 00:12:33,084 --> 00:12:45,273 We obtain biological data including blood samples and nasal swabs, and they'll be able 191 00:12:46,029 --> 00:12:51,570 to look at those samples and test them for different types of sickness the sheep might 192 00:12:51,057 --> 00:12:55,154 have, but a very important part of the project was placing tracking collars on these animals. 193 00:12:56,054 --> 00:12:59,066 [Kathleen Longshore] And then they attach the collar and let the 194 00:12:59,066 --> 00:13:08,072 animal up and they're done. 195 00:13:08,072 --> 00:13:22,135 And, it's pretty fast. 196 00:13:23,035 --> 00:13:30,035 So, these are the collars that we put on sheep, and we put these same collars on cougars. 197 00:13:30,035 --> 00:13:35,044 They have the GPS VHF unit down here and then we have satellite uplink, here's the antenna 198 00:13:36,025 --> 00:13:38,048 for the satellite uplink. 199 00:13:38,048 --> 00:13:43,067 At the end of the study this little mechanism has a charge in it, and it goes off and breaks 200 00:13:43,067 --> 00:13:45,123 off and the collar falls off the animal. 201 00:13:46,023 --> 00:13:47,100 We then go out and retrieve the collar. 202 00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:52,006 [Patrick Cummings] That satellite GPS collar is especially indispensable 203 00:13:52,006 --> 00:13:55,925 if for no other reason that we're on the Nevada National Security Site. 204 00:13:56,519 --> 00:14:02,595 We don't have ready access to this site and what that collars going to do, it's going 205 00:14:03,279 --> 00:14:08,050 to uplink with satellites, it's going to enable us to have real time or near real time positional 206 00:14:08,005 --> 00:14:14,005 data over seasons, over years, and that's going to give us very valuable movement information. 207 00:14:14,005 --> 00:14:18,099 [Kathleen Longshore] So, we look at differences in habitat use 208 00:14:18,099 --> 00:14:19,113 throughout the day. 209 00:14:20,013 --> 00:14:26,020 So, we know areas where sheep particularly like to forage and where they might be bedding. 210 00:14:26,002 --> 00:14:31,008 We're hoping to look at lambs' bed sites so that the Test Site has an idea of important 211 00:14:31,008 --> 00:14:35,029 areas for the sheep population on the landscape. 212 00:14:36,001 --> 00:14:42,024 Sheep select for cliffs and steep rugged areas at night of course when they're bedding down, 213 00:14:42,024 --> 00:14:47,086 which is also the time that mountain lions tend to go hunting. 214 00:14:47,086 --> 00:14:50,173 [Patrick Cummings] Predator-prey relationships are always important, 215 00:14:51,073 --> 00:14:52,086 and they change over time. 216 00:14:52,086 --> 00:14:57,117 What we see on the Nevada National Security Site with respect to large bodied predators 217 00:14:58,017 --> 00:15:01,042 like mountain lions impacting potentially desert bighorn sheep. 218 00:15:01,042 --> 00:15:05,114 We also have to think about another big game component here and that would be mule deer. 219 00:15:06,014 --> 00:15:10,020 We do have a mule deer resource on Department of Energy lands. 220 00:15:10,074 --> 00:15:13,106 [Narrator] Mule deer are the most common prey of cougars 221 00:15:14,006 --> 00:15:24,023 on the Nevada National Security Site. 222 00:15:24,023 --> 00:15:28,061 Tracking the collared cougars has clarified which animals they prey on and how widely 223 00:15:28,061 --> 00:15:29,073 they roam. 224 00:15:29,073 --> 00:15:32,166 [Derek Hall] We've captured to date nine animals, we've 225 00:15:33,066 --> 00:15:39,068 put radio transmitters on them, and they operate with satellite so they take locations at pre-programmed 226 00:15:39,068 --> 00:15:43,347 intervals; usually it's about every 6 hours or every 4 hours, so multiple times a day. 227 00:15:43,959 --> 00:15:50,230 And we get coordinates for those locations that are emailed to us and then we can pull 228 00:15:50,023 --> 00:15:52,071 those up in GIS and look at their movements. 229 00:15:52,071 --> 00:15:55,113 [Brian Jansen] We can find out when they've made a kill. 230 00:15:56,013 --> 00:16:00,060 What happens is, lions seem to never stop moving. 231 00:16:00,006 --> 00:16:01,006 They're really quite amazing. 232 00:16:01,006 --> 00:16:06,057 They're always moving around and normally the points that are 4 hours apart, the GPS 233 00:16:07,011 --> 00:16:12,013 locations 4 hours apart, they might be a mile apart from each other. 234 00:16:12,013 --> 00:16:15,912 The lion's moving around all night long, doing whatever it is they're doing. 235 00:16:16,029 --> 00:16:21,740 And when they kill something, it takes 2 to 3 days for them to eat that item because it's 236 00:16:21,074 --> 00:16:24,233 a large item, a deer sized animal. 237 00:16:24,899 --> 00:16:31,510 So, all the sudden they go from moving a mile every 4 hours to staying in the same spot 238 00:16:31,051 --> 00:16:32,115 for 2 days. 239 00:16:33,015 --> 00:16:38,014 And what happens is those GPS points overlap each other, and we call that a cluster, it's 240 00:16:38,149 --> 00:16:39,630 a cluster of points. 241 00:16:39,063 --> 00:16:44,137 So, what we do is after the lion leaves that cluster of points, we go and see what they 242 00:16:45,037 --> 00:16:46,037 were doing. 243 00:16:46,037 --> 00:16:49,070 And ordinarily the only thing that's there is a dead animal. 244 00:16:49,007 --> 00:16:56,009 And so we're finding anything from grey foxes up to deer-sized animals by doing that. 245 00:16:56,072 --> 00:17:00,170 [Derek Hall] There's a seasonal difference as well. 246 00:17:01,007 --> 00:17:06,060 They prefer mule deer, that's their main prey, and what we've found is the prey, the mule 247 00:17:07,023 --> 00:17:12,051 deer, will concentrate on higher elevations of the site, Rainier Mesa, Paiute Mesa, where 248 00:17:12,051 --> 00:17:16,139 there's a lot of forested cover as well as sage brush meadows, and that's perfect habitat 249 00:17:17,039 --> 00:17:18,039 for the mule deer. 250 00:17:18,039 --> 00:17:21,558 And so the lions will congregate around that summer range, which is concentrated. 251 00:17:21,909 --> 00:17:26,620 During the winter time, the snow comes, it gets cold and so the mule deer will move off 252 00:17:26,062 --> 00:17:30,068 those higher elevation habitats to the lower elevation habitats; there's just a large area 253 00:17:30,068 --> 00:17:32,947 and so the deer get dispersed over very large areas. 254 00:17:33,559 --> 00:17:38,605 This also brings the lions down into bighorn sheep habitat, really rugged, steep country, 255 00:17:39,019 --> 00:17:40,019 canyons and that. 256 00:17:40,019 --> 00:17:44,940 And so the lions move off to follow the deer but then come into contact with the sheep, 257 00:17:44,094 --> 00:17:48,171 and so what we're seeing is a seasonal change in diet: they'll take primarily mule deer 258 00:17:49,071 --> 00:17:54,270 in the summer/fall and then they'll shift to mainly bighorn sheep during the winter 259 00:17:54,909 --> 00:17:56,923 and spring. 260 00:17:57,049 --> 00:18:04,147 [Patrick Cummings] But what we think is going to happen here, 261 00:18:05,029 --> 00:18:13,260 potentially anyway, is that we'll see a little nucleus of sheep maybe expand into what could 262 00:18:13,026 --> 00:18:18,885 be considered a viable little population on Department of Energy land. 263 00:18:19,119 --> 00:18:21,720 [Derek Hall] One of the other reasons that we wanted to 264 00:18:21,072 --> 00:18:27,371 do this study is that the Department of Energy is mandated by law to document potential radiation 265 00:18:28,019 --> 00:18:31,068 exposure from Test Site activities to the offsite public. 266 00:18:31,509 --> 00:18:34,850 One of those potential pathways is wildlife. 267 00:18:34,085 --> 00:18:39,121 So, game animals such as bighorn sheep or mountain lions or mule deer can potentially 268 00:18:40,021 --> 00:18:45,230 come on site, eat some contaminated material, and then go off site and then get shot and 269 00:18:45,419 --> 00:18:46,850 eaten by a hunter. 270 00:18:46,085 --> 00:18:47,159 That's one of the potential exposure pathways. 271 00:18:48,059 --> 00:18:53,082 And so we wanted to understand those movements both onsite and offsite, and we also wanted 272 00:18:53,082 --> 00:18:57,301 to identify what the radiological burden was of these animals. 273 00:18:58,039 --> 00:19:02,950 All of the sampling that has been done over the years has found really that from the residual 274 00:19:02,095 --> 00:19:04,064 radiation we're not seeing really any effects. 275 00:19:04,919 --> 00:19:09,991 And we actually go out and study the plants and animals that are using some of those contaminated 276 00:19:10,639 --> 00:19:11,639 areas. 277 00:19:11,639 --> 00:19:16,190 All of that information is put into our annual site wide environmental report that explains 278 00:19:16,019 --> 00:19:18,238 the radiation doses and stuff. 279 00:19:18,409 --> 00:19:22,481 And again like I said we are not seeing levels that are harmful to the animals or people 280 00:19:23,129 --> 00:19:29,184 that would be eating those animals. 281 00:19:29,679 --> 00:19:38,600 [Narrator] As science goes, this is a particularly elegant 282 00:19:38,006 --> 00:19:39,006 study. 283 00:19:39,006 --> 00:19:44,205 An impressive array of tools, skills, and expertise have led to insightful results on 284 00:19:44,799 --> 00:19:49,220 the health and life habits of wildlife here. 285 00:19:49,022 --> 00:19:53,121 This work is part of the Nevada National Security Site obligation to monitor and protect the 286 00:19:54,021 --> 00:19:55,320 local ecosystem. 287 00:19:55,509 --> 00:19:59,690 [Kathleen Longshore] I just like sheep. 288 00:19:59,069 --> 00:20:00,268 They're spectacular. 289 00:20:00,889 --> 00:20:03,690 I just love working on sheep. 290 00:20:03,069 --> 00:20:06,398 I mean if you're out and you watch them, they're just amazing. 291 00:20:07,019 --> 00:20:10,450 They're surviving in the desert in the middle of nowhere. 292 00:20:10,045 --> 00:20:16,134 They walk on these little steep tiny little cliffs and walls and they are just, they are 293 00:20:17,034 --> 00:20:18,034 just gorgeous. 294 00:20:18,034 --> 00:20:22,097 [Derek Hall] But uh, Brian Jansen was amazing he knows 295 00:20:22,097 --> 00:20:25,146 mountain lions, he knows how they move through the environment. 296 00:20:26,019 --> 00:20:28,108 Without him we wouldn't have any animals to study. 297 00:20:28,909 --> 00:20:32,830 [Brian Jansen] They have a difficult life, they're, if you 298 00:20:32,083 --> 00:20:36,862 think about it these lions are walking around 5 to 10 miles every night looking for something 299 00:20:37,609 --> 00:20:40,330 to kill with their teeth and their front legs. 300 00:20:40,033 --> 00:20:44,074 Once they hit 10 years old their teeth are pretty well wore out. 301 00:20:44,074 --> 00:20:46,383 They don't usually live a lot longer than that. 302 00:20:47,049 --> 00:20:51,050 In fact the vast majority of them never even reach 7 to 9 years old. 303 00:20:51,059 --> 00:20:55,081 [Patrick Cummings] I like working with bighorn sheep because 304 00:20:55,279 --> 00:20:57,880 it's a native animal. 305 00:20:57,088 --> 00:20:59,144 It historically occurred throughout the state. 306 00:21:00,044 --> 00:21:05,046 There are so many questions about bighorn that it takes science, good science, good 307 00:21:05,046 --> 00:21:07,965 researchers doing good work to answer these questions. 308 00:21:08,379 --> 00:21:11,393 [Blake Malo] It's a team effort to obtain the correct data 309 00:21:11,519 --> 00:21:16,590 so they can make the correct decisions on how to manage those animals so that we can 310 00:21:17,229 --> 00:21:18,480 maintain the resource. 311 00:21:18,048 --> 00:21:22,121 [Patrick Cummings] It is, it is a special feeling I suppose knowing 312 00:21:23,021 --> 00:21:25,060 that you're doing good stuff. 313 00:21:25,006 --> 00:21:26,006 It's a good feeling. 314 00:21:26,006 --> 00:21:29,535 It feels like you did work that really counts for something. 315 00:21:30,129 --> 00:21:33,215 [Brian Jansen] Tomorrow I'm going to pull up some of my gear, 316 00:21:33,989 --> 00:21:41,070 cameras, trail transmitters, some traps, and then I'm going to pick up camp and head home. 317 00:21:41,799 --> 00:21:43,840 Let's go. 318 00:21:43,084 --> 00:21:44,086 Vamos.