Gardiner Bighorn Sheep die off, possible closure HD 305

[MThuntr]

Got this email from FWP

March 23, 2015

EMERGENCY ACTION


Sheep Die-Off Prompts Hunting District Closure

Montana's Fish & Wildlife Commission today closed a bighorn sheep hunting district near Gardiner due to an ongoing disease-related die-off.

The emergency action came in response to a pneumonia die-off that began late last year in bighorn sheep hunting district 305, near Gardiner. So far at least 34 sheep from the native herd have died.

Wildlife biologists who conducted an aerial survey of the area Sunday counted 55 bighorn sheep—found another dead animal and a number of sick ones—where 89 healthy sheep were counted last year.

"The disease event is not over yet," said Karen Loveless, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks' wildlife biologist in Livingston.

Nearly 40 percent of the herd in the Gardiner and Cinnabar areas, and 40 percent or more of the mature rams, have died.

Commissioners voted unanimously via today's conference call to close the 2015 bighorn sheep season in hunting district 305 to further protect the herd and to preclude hunters from applying for the hunting district's lone permit.

Commission Chair Dan Vermillion said the herd is important to hunters and others who have become accustomed to watching the animals' mating rituals near Yellowstone National Park during late November's bighorn sheep rutting season.

Prior to this emergency closure, FWP had offered one legal ram license in hunting district 305. So far about 10 people have already applied online for the license. Those applicants, and others who might apply, will be offered the opportunity to apply elsewhere or be given a refund. Last year about 100 hunters applied for the district's license.

Baring another disease outbreak, or other unforeseen events, hunting district 305 would reopen to hunting when the population recovers, officials said. The 2015 hunting season in hunting district 305 would have run Sept. 5-14 for archery and Sept. 15-Oct. 31 for the general season.

The deadline to apply for moose, bighorn sheep, mountain goat and bison permits is May 1.

 

[----]

Has FWP or any other state implemented the 270 method of 'shoot on cough' since Jourdonnais left?

That sure seemed to be a a somewhat effective way of managing an outbreak.

 

[JLS]

Has FWP or any other state implemented the 270 method of 'shoot on cough' since Jourdonnais left?

That sure seemed to be a a somewhat effective way of managing an outbreak.

Washington did it several years ago in the Tieton River herd.

Edit: There was an outbreak in the Asotin Creek herd about a year ago, and a number of those sheep were trapped for research at WSU.

 

[WRO]

Bill Hoppes deserves to be prosecuted for poaching for every dead sheep. His actions were malignant and intentional.

I hunt a lot of ranches and have a fair bit of interaction with ranchers. There are a lot of really good ones, but then there are shitheads like this that deserve to lose their land.

 

[katqanna]

Kat,

Have you ever watched Gordon Eastman's film "The Phantom Ram"? Lambs on Mount Washburn (summer range for many of the Gardiner areas ewes and lambs) were coughing from pneumonia back in the 80's. I've seen sick lambs there in the 90's. While Hoppe's domestics may very well be the cause of this die off, it is not for certain.

I was waiting to hear back from Ramsey on the tests and a call to Roffe before posting this, but I can put this up now and add the other info later.

Bighorn, no, I have not seen the film. I did not live here in the 80's, but FWP biologist paper refers to a major dieoff in that area in the 80's from pinkeye. Referenced also by the YNP site, "A chlamydia (pinkeye) epidemic in 1981–1982 reduced the northern herd by 60%" The academic papers on pinkeye mention that due to the fact that they cant see properly to eat or drink, the malnutrition and dehydration causes them to be susceptible to secondary diseases. They dont mention an 80's dieoff attributed to pneumonia.

Carlsens Bighorn Sheep Conservation Survey Plan, pg 174 states, "In 1981-82, an epizootic event of chlamydial-cuased infectious keratoconjunctivitis, or 'pink-eye,' killed hundreds of bighorn sheep (approximately 60% of an estimated 500 bighorns) in the Upper Yellowstone complex inside and along the northern border of YNP...

In recent history, there has been no evidence of an all-age pneumonia/lungworm complex bighorn sheep die-off in the Upper Yellowstone area. All-age pneumonia-related die-offs have occurred in several southwest Montana sheep populations in the last 20 years. There has, however, been some evidence of chronic 'lamb pneumonia' mortality in bighorn sheep in the Gardiner Basin in the mid-to late 1990s to include finding dead lambs in late summer and early fall and diagnosing pneumonia as a cause of death."

 

[RobG]

Some tidbits from the day...

Todd Wilkinson did an article on it. http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/opini...cle_e9d6c6a7-8944-513a-8254-ead781cbbbc6.html

Glenn Hockett of the Gallatin Wildlife Association took a picture of some of the animals in the back of the FWP pickup.

 

[PatrickK]

Bill Hoppes deserves to be prosecuted for poaching for every dead sheep. His actions were malignant and intentional.

I hunt a lot of ranches and have a fair bit of interaction with ranchers. There are a lot of really good ones, but then there are shitheads like this that deserve to lose their land.

Bill Hoppe is totally within the law so I don't think he deserves to lose his land.

It is clear that there is no room for both wild and domestic sheep in the same areas but until the rules change this is going to keep happening.

Patrick

 

[BuzzH]

If people like Hoppe continue with their selfish BS, there will be a time when they aren't within the law.

Then they'll cry that the G is being too heavy handed, fire up another sagebrush rebellion, and take another hit off the tea-party bong.

 

[The Hedgehog]

I can't think of a better use of a suppressed long range rifle w/ night vision sight. A little domestic mutton-busting..

 

[RobG]

I can't think of a better use of a suppressed long range rifle w/ night vision sight. A little domestic mutton-busting..

I would never condone such a thing. But if it were to happen I would not necessarily be unhappy.

Isn't he receiving MFWP subsidies for something? It seems those should be terminated if he wants to kill off our rare and valuable wildlife.

 

[double_a85]

Some tidbits from the day...

Todd Wilkinson did an article on it. http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/opini...cle_e9d6c6a7-8944-513a-8254-ead781cbbbc6.html

Glenn Hockett of the Gallatin Wildlife Association took a picture of some of the animals in the back of the FWP pickup.

Rob,

That picture is depressing!

 

[Ben Lamb]

I would never condone such a thing. But if it were to happen I would not necessarily be unhappy.

Isn't he receiving MFWP subsidies for something? It seems those should be terminated if he wants to kill off our rare and valuable wildlife.

He had been leasing some ground for capture facilities for bison IIRC.

Dude is a chode.

 

[BigHornRam]

If people like Hoppe continue with their selfish BS, there will be a time when they aren't within the law.

Then they'll cry that the G is being too heavy handed, fire up another sagebrush rebellion, and take another hit off the tea-party bong.

Buzz,

Do you hold your comrades from the City of Missoula to the same standard as Hoppe?

http://missoulian.com/news/local/bi...cle_739bf802-eb75-11e3-b855-001a4bcf887a.html

Have never heard you comment on this one.

 

[BuzzH]

Then you haven't been paying attention...

 

[BigHornRam]

Then you haven't been paying attention...

Link please.

 

[RobG]

Buzz,

Do you hold your comrades from the City of Missoula to the same standard as Hoppe?

http://missoulian.com/news/local/bi...cle_739bf802-eb75-11e3-b855-001a4bcf887a.html

Have never heard you comment on this one.

There is a huge difference between keeping bighorns away from a long-standing domestic sheep grazing operation and Hoppe bringing sheep a couple of years ago to the border of Yellowstone knowing full well they would fatally infect the animals in the world's most famous park.

 

[Montanakid]

Some tidbits from the day...

Todd Wilkinson did an article on it. http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/opini...cle_e9d6c6a7-8944-513a-8254-ead781cbbbc6.html

Glenn Hockett of the Gallatin Wildlife Association took a picture of some of the animals in the back of the FWP pickup.

Pretty sure I got pictures of that biggest ram, I think this might be him from a year and a half ago

 

[Montanakid]

I took that picture in Cinnabar

 

[katqanna]

He had been leasing some ground for capture facilities for bison IIRC.

Dude is a chode.

Ben, I think you may be confusing Hoppe with another malcontent down there - Frank Rigler. Hoppe only owns land on Jardine Rd. and there is no bison capture facilty there. But Rigler does own land close to the highway and another location that he leases to APHIS for a pretty penny, where they conduct their GonaCon sterilization experiments on them.


As to Hoppe, a hunting friend wrote in an email this morning a very good thought - "I think what Mr William Hoppe did is like intentional arson of a public forest and public property, wild bighorn sheep. In Montana if you intentionally burn the forest they take you to a trail of your peers to decide your guilt and punishment."

Oh, I forgot, I got my return call from Ramsey the other day. The tests show positive for pneumonia: Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae, Mannheimia haemolytica and some Bibersteinia trehalosi (not a primary, it is secondary but over takes M. haemolytica, B. trehalosi affects domestic sheep and cattle as well) - all fatal to bighorns. A Bighorn Sheep Die-off in Southern Colorado Involving a Pasteurellaceae Strain that May Have Originated from Syntopic Cattle

Isolates of β-hemolytic Manneimia haemolytica biogroup 1G from a bighorn carcass and a syntopic cow showed 99.5% similarity in genetic fingerprints; B. trehalosi biogroup 4CDS isolates were ≥94.9% similar to an isolate from a nearby bighorn herd. Field and laboratory observations suggested that pneumonia in affected bighorns may have been caused by a combination of pathogens including two pathogenic Pasteurellaceae strains—one likely of cattle origin and one likely of bighorn origin—with infections in some cases perhaps exacerbated by other respiratory pathogens and severe weather conditions. Our and others' findings suggest that intimate interactions between wild sheep and cattle should be discouraged as part of a comprehensive approach to health management and conservation of North American wild sheep species.

If any of y'all happen to be on the east side of the river, please keep an eye out for dead or dying bighorns and report them to FWP please. There is not the same tourist/public (extra eyes) presence as the west that helped to spot some of the bighorns there and report them.

 

[WRO]

Bill Hoppe is totally within the law so I don't think he deserves to lose his land.

It is clear that there is no room for both wild and domestic sheep in the same areas but until the rules change this is going to keep happening.

Patrick

It was intentional and malignant behavior.

Even other sheep farmers were saying the same thing.

At a minimum he should receive 1 charge of poaching for every dead bighorn.

There is another rancher pulling the same shenanigans in the breaks currently over a dust up with the BLM.