Scientists, volunteers hope to boost water for bighorn sheep at Marine base

File: Range 200 simulated Iraqi village, where US marines of the First Expeditionary Force (1MEF) are training at the Twentynine Palms Marine Base, is seen on Nov. 14, 2005 near Twentynine Palms, California.

At the Marine base in Twentynine Palms, scientists and volunteers have installed guzzlers to give Bighorn sheep a way to find a drink.

At the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, scientists and volunteers have installed guzzlers, a kind of water trough, to give Bighorn sheep and some of the other critters who live on the base a way to find a drink.

It's all part of a bigger five-year natural resource plan for the base.

Bighorn sheep have called the California desert home for thousands of years and recent conservation efforts have helped the population bounce back by 80 percent, according to the Society for the Conservation of Bighorn Sheep. Still, wildlife officials say the animals are vulnerable to loss of habitat, urbanization and disease.

Joining us with more is Andrew Haughan, information officer for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.