TIJUANA.- Yesterday, the news allegedly stated by the Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources, of the bighorn sheep going extinct (SEMANART in Spanish), shocked many Baja citizens on the web. It also turned out to be false.

The news came from the site CrónicaMx and was quickly reproduced, especially by Baja’s social media users.

The bighorn sheep is Baja California’s characteristic species and state animal. The Baja California peninsula is one of the few places in North America were it lives and it’s currently endangered in the state due to illegal poaching in the region. Its scientific name is Ovis Canadensis and it’s also called Bighorn Ram. Other genus of the species aren't threatened, and have recuperated after dangerously low numbers at the beginning of the 20th century, but news of species going extinct in our world is, sadly, not uncommon, so we can see why some people might believe the beloved bighorn in Baja was suddenly gone.

The Autonomous University of Baja California has also adopted the animal as its representation. The Sate Government continues to make efforts for it’s preservation, through a reproduction program that will save it from extinction. Furthermore, the sheep’s wild nature and its habitat make it difficult to hunt (and track) given that he often isn’t seen.

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