Yukon officials want to prevent Dall sheep from becoming roadkill

Parks Canada wants to prevent Yukon's Dall sheep from wandering onto the Alaska Highway and being killed.

The Dall sheep use the south side of Sheep Mountain, near Kluane Lake, to forage for food and they're also drawn to salt from the road.

The Yukon government recently installed signs to warn drivers of sheep on the highway, and officials are considering other ways to deal with the problem.

"They do use the lower part of the mountain in the winter and there's lots of good open forage for them, good food, and there's also escape cliffs nearby," said Carmen Wong, an ecologist at Kluane National Park and Reserve.

"They also might be foraging across the highway on some some of the vegetation right against the flood plain there."

Wong says the stretch known as Thachäl Dhäl (Sheep Mountain) and the south end of Kluane Lake, near where the Slims River flows in, is particularly hazardous for drivers, and the animals.

Wong says last September, the Dall sheep population in the area was devastated by one single incident.

"One vehicle collided with a group of 12 sheep and ended up killing eight of them — and that was a pretty significant impact to the population," she said.  

"About four per cent of the lambs were killed and three per cent of the nursery group, which are ewes and immature sheep."

Wong says the driver involved was not injured.

Ryan Drummond is a fish and wildlife technician with the Yukon government. He says Kluane National Park and Reserve, the Kluane First Nation, Dän Keyi Renewable Resources Council, and the territory are working together to find ways to raise awareness among motorists.

"We are certainly investigating what all the options are, and looking at what the best solutions might be given the activity we see at this location," said Drummond.

Sheep in the north portion of the park, from the Donjek River to Sheep Mountain, represents about six per cent of the total Yukon Dall sheep population.