Comment on End of bighorn sheep herd could help others throughout West

End of bighorn sheep herd could help others throughout West

[...] biologists plan to use a helicopter this week to capture the three known survivors in Idaho and search for others that might be on the Oregon side of the Snake River in the upper end of Hells Canyon. The captured bighorns will be sent to a research facility at South Dakota State University as part of a three-year study involving about 40 wild sheep from the Northwest as well as some from South Dakota. Scientists hope to find a way to stop the spread of disease that continues to limit the success of bighorn herds throughout the West. Jonathan Jenks, distinguished professor of Natural Resource Management at South Dakota State University, said the three sheep are a significant addition to the study because they carry a unique strain of mycoplasma, an infective pathogen. [...] a nearby bighorn herd called the Leap Creek herd became infected with bacterial pneumonia and spread the disease to the Sheep Mountain herd, Ratliff said. For that reason, Berkley said, officials there have offered hunters more opportunities to bag a bighorn ram to reduce the chance of one wandering away.

 

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