SB Sun: Work begins near Joshua Tree National Park to guide design of wildlife crossings
Wildlife researchers have begun surveying areas along State Route 62 to collect data on bighorn sheep to guide in the planning and design of two wildlife crossings near Joshua Tree National Park.
The work is part of a larger study of wildlife activity — movement and genetic exchange among bighorn sheep, mountain lions and bobcats — across the highway at the Morongo and Yucca grades, between Morongo Valley and Yucca Valley. Researchers will collect animal droppings for DNA analysis, according to the Mojave Desert Land Trust.
On Oct. 6, specially trained detection dogs and their handlers will join the survey, scouting for droppings, or scat. DNA analysis of the samples will help researchers identify individual animals and better understand movement and genetic exchange — mating between populations — across the highway, while establishing a baseline to compare wildlife activity before and after the crossings are built, the land trust says.