(upbeat music) -[Carlee] Up next on Conservation Works, a look at the decades long effort to restore bighorn sheep to the Nebraska Panhandle.

Field notes with Todd Nordeen and Planet Earth is the guest of honor when Omaha Zoo School students celebrate their annual Party for the Planet.

I'm Carlee Moates.

Welcome to Conservation Works.

(gentle music) (water running) (gentle music) (nature sounds) (gentle music) -[Grant] Rising from the plains are these massive buttes and intermingled between these buttes are shortgrass prairie and ponderosa pine woodlands and mountain mahogany shrubland.

And once you see this landscape, everything just hits you.

(bright music) And then on top of these massive buttes, there's a species out here that you normally wouldn't get to see in Nebraska.

(bright music) Bighorn sheep were native to Nebraska.

Once settlers came west, they were completely wiped out.

But they have come back and are now a part of this landscape.

(bright music) (birds chirping) It would be very disappointing to see them out of this landscape again.

(bright music) The Wildcat Hills would have another hole in its heart.

(bright music) My name is Grant Reiner.

(bright music) For my undergrad, I studied fisheries and wildlife, and for my master's degree, I got a master's of applied science with an emphasis in science communication.

(bright music) My graduate project was two years long, and I had to decide where I wanted to complete the project, so I chose the Wildcat Hills.

(bright music) The Wildcat Hills start at the Wyoming border and span across Nebraska for 55 miles.

(bright music) And for those two years, I placed camera traps out on the landscape.

I've captured everything from pack rats to mountain lions, songbirds, birds of prey, turkey vultures, (bright music) bobcats, mule deer, fox, coyotes.

I mean, there's just so much out here.

And the camera traps have also captured bighorn sheep.

(bright music) Mike Forsberg was the one who taught me all about camera trapping.

-[Mike] When we get this time?

- Two coyotes, two lions, bighorn sheep and turkeys.

(bright music) -[Mike] Not a bad day.

(laughing) - Not a bad day.

-[Mike] I've used camera traps of various kinds out here in the Wildcat Hills for, (bright music) you know, maybe back in 2011.

Anytime something crosses that trigger, trips that trigger.

(bright music) It sends a signal to the camera.

The camera takes a picture.

Camera takes a picture, and flashes are tied to the camera.

So the flashes go off when the camera goes off, and hopefully you get something really cool in the frame.

Now, these are real rugged landscapes.

There's a lot of wildlife, but a lot of times you don't see it.

So being able to put some cameras out there that are there, watching and recording when you're not is a really important tool to tell the story of life out here in the in the High Plains.

(bright music) So with these camera traps being out for the last couple of years, they've captured a lot of bighorn sheep behavior.

(knocking horns) When you hear the word Nebraska and you hear the word bighorn sheep, you don't think those two go together.

(gentle music) -[Grant] They are these (gentle music) tremendous athletes.

(gentle music) That can scale these walls that you would never dream (gentle music) of going up or down.

(gentle music) -[Mike] Bighorn sheep were creatures of the plains, just like a lot of other species that you only think of in the mountains today.

(gentle music) Grizzly bear were here.

(gentle music) Mountain lions were here.

Elk were here.

Fortunately, some of these species are starting to come back, and it's because of the conservation efforts that have taken place by a large community of people in this part of the state.

(gentle music) -[Todd] Behind us, there's a sheep.

(gentle music) I can, I got a look.

Sorry.

(gentle music) I got, um, don't have my glasses.

I could just see the butt of.

But I don't have my glasses on.

But that's a small ram.

Young ram.

So how cool is that?

I'm Todd Nordeen with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.

I'm the big game disease and research program manager.

(gentle music) The primary losses of sheep in this region was due to unregulated hunting, habitat loss and disease.

Those were the three factors that really caused the downfall of bighorn sheep out here in western part of the state and throughout the country, for that matter.

(gentle music) The first reintroductions back to the state started back in 1981.

The sheep that we've got now, you know, have come from various parts of the country.

Custer State Park, Pikes Peak area at Colorado Springs.

-[Narrator] Three, two, one.

Go!

It's down.

Come on up.

(gentle music) -[Todd] And we've been up to the Missouri breaks of Montana.

We've also been to the province of Alberta.

-[Narrator] Okay.

Four, three, two, one.

(loud bang) (whizzing and clanging) -[Todd] And that's all the places that they've come from.

So quite the diversity.

(gentle music) (hoofs stomping) - That's a nice ram there.

-[Man] Yeah.

She's a beauty.

(indistinct chatter) - Yeah.

(indistinct chatter) - Here comes a ram, boys.

(rustling and clanking) - Lock her up.

(engine humming) (squeaking) -[Todd] The reason we're doing this, first of all, is we did a habitat suitability study, and it indicated that we still have good to excellent habitat in the Wildcat Hills.

(gentle music) - Pull the gray trailer door back, father.

Thank you.

-[Todd] Bighorn sheep, like many species, you know, we're close to extinction.

And as we talked earlier, we're extirpated from the state.

But all species play an important role in the ecosystem.

And science has determined that.

We felt it was important to try to bring them back to this landscape after nearly 100 year-old absence.

(gentle music) We've had a lot of interest in bringing sheep back from the public, but also landowners.

(gentle music) A lot of these efforts have gone on across the country to bring them back.

And so we've been a part of that and felt it's really important to do so.

(gentle music) (no audio) - Hi, I'm Carlee Moates, welcome to Conservation Works, a series exploring the creative and inspiring ways Nebraskans are helping people, wildlife and the land thrive together.

Joining me in the studio is Todd Nordeen, Bighorn Sheep program manager with Nebraska Game and Parks.

Since the return of bighorn sheep to Nebraska in the 1980s, Todd and other wildlife biologists have been working to build and maintain healthy herds in the Panhandle.

It's a long term conservation effort that includes monitoring the sheep, managing habitat and responding to disease outbreaks.

Todd, welcome to the program.

- Thank you.

Good to be here.

- So I want to know what's it like to have bighorn sheep in hand.

-[Todd] Well, it's an incredible experience.

Never would have guessed that I'd someday be handling bighorn sheep or many of the other big game species in Nebraska, too.

But it's an incredible feeling.

- Awesome.

It looks like it's a big rodeo of everyone running, running after the sheep and kind of tackling them to get them underhand.

Yeah, it depends on the capture method.

But, you know, lately we've gone more to the helicopter type captures, you know, where we hire a contract crew to come in and help us get them because it's, as you've noticed, you know, it can be very difficult and challenging to get your hands on them.

So.

But with the help of the helicopters and they can get right in on them and they use a net gun that they fire out of the helicopter.

And, and then they dump a guy out that they call the mugger.

And, and so he gets them hobbled and blindfolded.

And then they sling them underneath the helicopter and they'll bring in two and sometimes three and occasionally even four a time and they'll gently lay them down.

They bring them in to a staging area where we're all set up, and then we go out and get them after they've laid them down and put them on a stretcher and bring them back.

And yeah, it gets to be a little bit of a rodeo sometimes too, because they're anxious to get away.

- Yeah.

I can.

Imagine.

- Yeah.

It's quite the process.

- What's that like for the group morale when there's maybe greenhorns in the group that haven't done this before, when they see these big animals coming at them.

-[Todd] Well, we get a lot of people, a lot of volunteers that want to come help us do that because yeah, just the excitement and you know, the folks that have seen the videos and all that too.

And it's a big collaborative effort to that takes a lot of people and a lot of preparation to get that going.

But yeah, that first time the helicopters come flying in, you know, everybody's eyes are lit up and the excitement's going.

And so yeah, it's, it's quite the exciting adventure, I guess when you're handling wild animals, especially bigger ones like those.

-[Carlee] And how long have you been working with bighorn sheep?

Uh, with bighorn sheep?

Uh, it's probably been 26, 26 years now, I think.

And I've been with the agency.

36.

But yeah, most of that's been working with bighorn sheep or big game in general, but a little more focused on the bighorn sheep side of things now.

-[Carlee] So I'm sure you've seen a big quite the change through the state in your career since you've been working with this species.

Yeah, it has changed a lot, you know, and, you know, go back to some of the early days too.

And even my predecessors, you know, that started to bring bighorn sheep back into Nebraska.

You know, they had the foresight that we needed to bring this native species back.

And, and for me to get under their shirttails, I guess, and carry it on, you know, it's been an incredible ride too.

And we got a ways to go though, too, because we're not there yet.

But, you know, we're keeping keeping at it.

So.

- Absolutely.

So what I've learned from you, um, and what I've learned about bighorn sheep in Nebraska is they used to be here and then they disappeared.

Can you just give a brief history of kind of what happened with them here?

- Yeah, they are definitely native to Nebraska.

You know, I know some folks, you know, have probably wondered about that.

And many, you know, especially across the state, you know, don't even realize there's still some here or even that they were once here by the thousands actually.

So and they inhabited much of the Nebraska Panhandle, primarily.

They were extirpated from the state.

From what I recall, the last reported sighting was 1918 in the southern Wildcat Hills region, you know south of Scottsbluff, Gering.

But they were extirpated from the state, primarily from disease and unregulated hunting and habitat loss, you know, through the 1800s there in the early 1900s.

And so, yeah, they were absent from the state until 1981, actually.

- What does that take for a state to decide that they're going to reintroduce something like that?

-[Todd] Public support, you know, constituents wanting to see a native species, you know, back on the landscape.

You know, that's probably the biggest, you know, and like I mentioned, the foresight of some of our biologists back in that day and, you know, to bring a spectacular species back to the landscape for all to enjoy again.

-[Carlee] And they're reintroduced in the Wildcat Hills in the Panhandle because these sheep, they like that elevation.

And I think people don't realize all the time that there's elevation in Nebraska, too, with those canyons and even waterfalls.

Why were those regions specifically decided to have those reintroduction sites there?

What was there for the sheep that they needed?

-[Todd] Well, a lot of what was done in preparation for an eventual release back into the wild, you know, was looking at the habitat that's currently there.

And so habitat studies were done in advance just to make sure that we still had that same type of bighorn sheep habitat in Nebraska, you know, and it was it's been here historically forever, you know, and so but yet it's incredibly diverse across this state, you know, from east to west, but you get into that western side and, you know, we have all the elements to hold bighorn sheep, you know, and it's perfect habitat for them.

And that's why there was thousands in the state at one time.

And so, yeah, it's still there.

And that's what's enabled us to really get the sheep program going again and keep it going, despite some of the challenges we still face.

- What are those challenges that you're still facing?

-[Todd] Well, number one is probably disease, you know, and it's not just here in Nebraska, but all across the country.

And we work collaboratively with a lot of the other states and state agencies, you know, throughout, you know, just trying to seek answers to these disease issues that keep plaguing all the sheepherds, you know, across the country.

-[Carlee] Mhm.

And I'm assuming there's some sort of collaboration across the country, folks that have sheep where they're at.

Are you all talking to each other to see what's working or what to do next for that.

- All the time.

For the Bighorn Sheep group, you know, we definitely are pretty focused on the disease issue.

But right now, you know, trying to overcome some of these disease challenges that we all face has been a big focus for us.

- Does that disease come from just bighorn sheep to bighorn sheep or.

I would assume there's some crossover to with domestic sheep.

And that can get complicated too.

-[Todd] Yeah, certainly.

You know, they're they're related species, you know, so bighorns and domestics.

And so they, when they do interact, you know, it can, they can share diseases either way, you know, and so, and when that happens, you know, the, at least in terms of bighorn sheep, you know, they'll move back to their herd or something and potentially carry a pathogen back to the herd and where it's treatable and stuff on the domestic side.

And, you know, they can withstand it a little bit more.

It's tougher to deal with on the wild side.

So but we continue to work with a lot of folks and producers on the domestic side too.

Looking for mutually agreeable solutions that are beneficial, beneficial to both species.

- So let's talk about the research that happens when you have the sheep in hand or just long term throughout the season too, because you can have trackers on them and kind of follow along.

When you have them in hand after the helicopter has come, you've netted them.

They're there at the staging area with the team.

What are you gathering?

What are you looking for?

What do you think, long term, you're going to learn from that?

What's that all look like?

-[Todd] Well, thank goodness for technology, you know, and how that's developed over the years too, because yeah, the olden days, you know, we just didn't have all the things that we had now and being able to track them and gather all that data and conduct that research, in such a way.

Like now we can put in a GPS collar and we never used to have those.

So that's one of the primary things that we're doing when we capture them and get them on the stretchers, has put that GPS collar on them and then we can track them.

But yeah, while we got them captured, we, we definitely gather as much information as we can.

We'll be drawing blood or we'll be taking a DNA sample and fecal samples and ear tags.

And sometimes we'll depending on their condition when they come in, if they're a little banged up or something, we might give them a shot of banamine or some drug or antibiotic to give them a boost.

You know, when, when we let them go.

So but yeah, and then we'll take measurements at times to get their age, you know, so and we've got specific teams, you know, it's kind of like a MASH unit to be honest with you.

A triage unit too.

- The whole team effort.

-[Todd] It's a team effort.

And it's a process, you know, but we've got a good crew and a good collaborative group and, you know, all kinds of people from all over the state.

Henry Doorly Zoo now is actually they've been helping us for over ten years.

Yeah, they've been super helpful.

And of course, they're experts at handling a lot of wildlife.

-[Carlee] Yeah.

- You know, so.

- They do it almost every day.

- Yeah, they do it every day.

You know, more often than we do.

And so their expertise has just been invaluable.

So we're we're glad to have them.

We've got a great partnership going and, and yeah, and it helps, you know the success of these things go, go well, so.

You know we're always happy to have them.

- Wonderful.

Um, there's a bighorn sheep restoration facility going in and that's something new.

What's that entail?

What's that?

What's the dream behind that?

- Well, you know, because we've continued to face a lot of these disease challenges and stuff too.

And many things have been tried over the years.

Um, but we're still struggling all the states and stuff too.

So we got a facility that hopefully will be constructed at least part of it, maybe at this fall or this winter.

And then we'll start to utilize that to put sheep in that facility and run them through a more rigorous testing process to make sure they're not carrying any pathogens and, and potentially going to, you know, send them out in the wild once we do release them.

So yeah, that's in the works and it'll give us a chance to handle more often and keep our eyes on them a little bit more and really hopefully reduce that risk of disease.

- And really progress that knowledge of what they're showing you.

-[Todd] Yeah, we'll learn a lot from it too.

- Great.

That's what makes it happen though, that collaboration.

- Can't do it without each other.

Yeah, absolutely.

- There's so much effort going into the capture, the research, the reintroduction.

What's the goal?

What's the big outcome that you're dreaming of?

- Well, our goal and our management plan is to have a self-sustaining, free ranging, wild population in the state of Nebraska.

That's it, you know, and provide those recreational opportunities for all of our constituents to enjoy.

Keep it up.

You're doing awesome.

- Okay.

Thank you.

I appreciate it.

- Thanks for joining me today, Todd.

- Thank you.

(no audio) - Up next, conservation starts with the next generation.

So we're heading back to school.

Zoo school at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium.

Students discover the natural world through hands on learning and cap it all off with a spectacular Earth Day celebration.

(no audio) (bright music) -[Carlee] As we talk about the good conservation work happening across Nebraska.

I thought I'd stop by Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium to check out their zoo schools.

(bright music) Well hi friends.

(bright music) It's a unique program where students receive hands on STEM learning and real world experiences in conservation and animal science.

(bright music) And while they're learning about conservation today, they may also be helping shape its future.

(bright music) -[Staff 1] If you guys wanted to hide in your environment and your environment is green, what color would you want to be?

- Green.

- Yes.

- Green.

-[Carlee] Today, a group of zoo kindergarten students are helping the Senior High Zoo Academy students prepare for their annual celebration Party for the Planet.

(bright music) - Yes.

Yes.

I mean, we have some of those at the zoo.

Just think about those animals.

What do they have?

- So today, you guys are gonna get to make your very own habitats.

But what?

-[Tess] I work with our high school Zoo Academy students, they come on Fridays for a half day.

They work specifically on a conservation service project.

As high schoolers.

We also have our kindergarten zoo class in here today.

Um, and we're doing some activities so that the big kids can teach the little kids about conservation.

(bright music) -[Carlee] Through zoo schools, students explore the natural world, animal care, and veterinary science.

During our visit, senior high students from Zoo Academy teamed up with students from Zoo Kindergarten to share conservation lessons while preparing for the Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium's annual party for the planet celebration.

(bright music) -[Kid] You can make rainbow flowers.

-[Staff 2] Rainbow flowers.

Good job.

That's a really good penguin.

-[Tess] One of the most amazing things for these kids is that we do get to take the classroom outside all of the time.

So, for instance, my students read poetry with the gorillas, or we're out doing field notes with the trees.

We do some citizen science with the trees as well.

All of our classes can both be in and out, and that is huge for our students, who really experientially learn so much more from the hands on activities than maybe just sitting in a classroom.

It is a one-of-a-kind school experience.

(bright music) -[Kid] I know how to stay flat.

-[Carlee] Let's see how they.

How do they all look together?

If we had like a big group of butterflies that are all flying together.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

Very good.

(bright music) - They eat lots of different foods.

So right now I'm feeding her nuts.

-[Carlee] I'm joined by Leah Litz, the program manager of schools.

Today is Party for the Planet.

So what's happening around the zoo today.

- Party for the Planet is AZA's Earth Day celebrations.

And what's so special about this Party for the Planet is it's put on by our Zoo Academy seniors.

- Amazing.

-[Leah] So this is their capstone project.

For the whole year, we've had different groups that are planning, from social media to the graphics on ground, to the activities that children are learning about around the zoo.

All of it has been planned by our Zoo Academy seniors.

And today is the day where we get to showcase Party for the Planet.

It's definitely taken off here at the zoo, and we cannot wait to reach the thousands of guests that are coming through the gate.

(bright music) -[Leah] Hi.

Good morning.

How are you?

You came on the perfect day.

Today is Party for the Planet.

- Can we go see some of the activities?

- Please, I would love that.

(bright music) So this station is memory matching with our elephants.

And this station, I think, really does highlight that global impact.

So obviously there's not elephants in Nebraska.

But when we've got guests coming here, they get a chance to learn about the herd that we have and then also get some more information about how actions in Omaha can still make a really big impact.

(bright music) - A match.

- That's so good.

(bright music) -[Carlee] Are we making the seed bombs for the pollinator habitat?

- Do you want to make some?

- I would love to.

(bright music) -[Staff 3] It's really good because it'll attract insects.

And this will also help butterflies too.

(bright music) -[Carlee] Yay!

Yay!

It's more fun having dirty hands, but I'll wash them off.

(bright music) As I explored the Zoo Academy activities.

It was exciting to see visitors of all ages so engaged and inspired at one of the nation's top zoos, right here in Nebraska.

(indistinct chatter) I am with the Paquin family all the way from Des Moines, Iowa.

And you guys are here to celebrate Party for the Planet?

- Yes!

- Yeah.

What are your thoughts so far?

- It's very fun.

Very, very exciting.

Kids are having a good time.

-[Carlee] Do you think when you grow up you want to work in the environment some way?

What sort of thing do you think would be an awesome job?

(indistinct chatter) - Oh, rescuing animals, I love animals.

-[Carlee] It was a gold star day at the zoo.

Proof that learning up close can spark a bigger impact and a perfect reflection of this year's theme.

Start local, help global.

(gentle music) (no audio) (bright music) Thank you for joining us on this edition of Conservation Works.

As we close, enjoy a bird's eye view of Scotts Bluff National Monument, where rugged beauty and remarkable biodiversity come together.

This iconic landmark provides habitat for nearly 580 species of plants and animals.

(bright music) -[Announcer] Support for Conservation Works provided by the Clare M. Hubbard Foundation, Ken and Pat Cheloha, the Carol Gendler estate, and Larry and Pat Ruth.

(gentle music)