Nebraska authorities say 40 bighorn sheep captured in Canada will be released in northwest Nebraska, swelling the state's small number.

The five rams and 35 ewes were captured by drop nets Tuesday in the Rockies west of Edmonton, near Hinton.

Area wildlife manager Todd Nordeen of the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission says the bighorns will be released about 10 a.m. Thursday, east of Harrison.

It will be Nebraska's fifth bighorn herd.

Bighorn sheep are native to Nebraska but were killed off in the early 1900s by loss of habitat, disease and unregulated hunting.

Starting in 1981, Nebraska reintroduced the sheep in western Nebraska.

Nebraska's bighorn population has been estimated at 315 sheep.