Eight of the 31 bighorn sheep transplanted to the Catalina Mountains in November are now dead — slashing the size of the group by more than 25 percent in just over two months.

The Arizona Game and Fish Department finally confirmed the sixth, seventh and eighth bighorn deaths in a news release on Friday, more than two weeks after one of the sheep died and more than a week after the other two deaths.

Agency officials have declined to provide promptly updated information on the sheep reintroduction, choosing instead to issue news releases only every two weeks. The previous news release on Jan. 10 confirmed five deaths and the deaths of two mountain lions that were killed by the agency for preying on sheep.

The three mortalities confirmed Friday were adult ewes found on Jan. 8, 11 and 15, the news release said. It said investigators determined that the bighorns were killed by mountain lions, but that the “offending” lions were not located.

Most of the sheep released were fitted with GPS tracking collars.