Evolutionary demography and conservation lab - Labo de démographie évolutive et conservation

Welcome to our research projects on

Canadian Rocky Mountain Bighorn sheep and Mountain goats

We are studying two populations of wild bighorn sheep and one of mountain goats in the Canadian Rockies of Alberta. All studies began more than 20 years ago. Approximately a thousand sheep and four hundred goats have been marked and individually monitored from birth to death. Because of the detailed monitoring of behavior, survival, reproductive success and physical development of three fully marked populations over several generations, the Ram Mountain, Sheep River and Caw Ridge studies have produced many important insights into the population dynamics and evolutionary ecology of large mammals. These pages give you basic information on the bighorn sheep, the mountain goat, the three long-term research projects and their major findings.

This research involves collaborative work between Alberta Fish and Wildlife, the Université de Sherbrooke, the Université Laval, the University of Calgary, the University of Alberta and the Montana Conservation Science Institute.

Our research is supported with the financial contribution of:

Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Alberta Fish and Wildlife Division, the Alberta Conservation Association, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (Canada), le Fond Québécois de la Recherche sur la Nature et les Technologies.

If you have any comments on this site please email them to

fanie.pelletier@imperial.ac.uk