HACHITA, N.M. -

Nearly 30 desert bighorn sheep have been released in the Little Hatchet Mountains of southern New Mexico in an effort to reinvigorate the species.

New Mexico Game and Fish trapped and collared 14 rams and 14 ewes from the department's breeding facility last week.

The sheep join a herd of about 25 already living in the Little Hatches.

A Game and Fish biologist says the relocation will bolster efforts to downgrade the state listing of the desert bighorn from endangered to threatened.

More than 360 desert bighorn sheep have been released into the wild in New Mexico since Game and Fish started the restoration program in 1979.

The Kofa National Wildlife Refuge in Arizona contributed 44 sheep while the others were raised in New Mexico.