A mountain lion is suspected of killing a second bighorn sheep from several recently transplanted to the Santa Catalina Mountains north of Tucson, officials said Friday.
The kill was confirmed Tuesday, Arizona Game and Fish reported on its Facebook page.
The ewe, tagged as Sheep 447, had been released in the Catalinas on Nov. 21. It has been one of several captured in the Plomosa Mountains for relocation to the Catalinas.
Its collar had last transmitted its location on Dec. 9, officials said. Two days later, the sheep’s collar sent a mortality signal, but officials initially believed it was malfunctioning, the agency said in its news release.
A search by plane was conducted by the wildlife agency on Dec. 12 to help determine the collar’s location. Several tries to find it on foot followed, but the rugged terrain made it difficult.
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Biologists eventually found the sheep’s location, then located the GPS transmitter buried and covered by litter in a narrow and rocky drainage, the release said.
Biologists confirmed the sheep had been killed by a mountain lion.
Its carcass was found less than a half-mile from the kill site for another sheep found killed Dec. 7. Biologists also found the carcass of a white-tailed deer nearby.
The proximity of the kills leads biologists to suspect the same lion is responsible for killing both bighorns. The lion has not yet been located.
The agency released 30 sheep to the Catalinas from the Plomosa Mountains, near Quartzsite, and the Tonto National Forest, northeast of Phoenix, in November.
The 30 sheep moved last month joined 12 surviving bighorns from a group of 31 released in the Catalinas in November 2013. With the second confirmed death, 40 collared bighorns are believed to be alive in the mountains.
The other animals from the initial transplant have died, most of them killed by mountain lions.
Three mountain lions have been killed by the Game and Fish Department for preying on sheep since the 2013 release.
