Wild sheep and disease

[Oak]

I'm going to consolidate my posts about wild sheep and disease into this thread moving forward. Feel free to discuss anything posted here.

Up first:

Pneumonia outbreak crosses I-84, spreads to new Baker County bighorn sheep herd

Lab confirms same strain infected sheep in both Baker County Oregon herds

 

[Oak]

WDFW officials to lethally remove bighorn sheep to prevent a deadly pneumonia outbreak

Cleman Mountain bighorn sheep tests positive for lethal bacteria

Lawsuit filed to prevent disease in bighorn sheep herds

 

[AggieHunter]

This isn't from those states but last year when checking my ewe in at the Colorado Springs office the biologist said the Pikes Peak herd was struggling with lone rams going into residential type areas and interacting with domestic sheep and then returning to the herd with pneumonia.

 

[Irrelevant]

@Oak the bigger concern I see with the WA Swakane herd (which produced the WR California BH) is that they have a farm (Spotted Ass Ranch) in their range, right on the highway, that has goats and sometimes sheep. When WSDOT built the exclusion fence along HWY 97A they put it between this farm and the hwy not between the farm and the public behind them.

The one good thing is that that herb has been moving west less and less. When I first started deer hunting that area late archery, you could see sheep west into the timber, now they almost exclusively stay east along the river. So outside of that one ranch, they are less likely to encountered the domestic sheep in those allotments to the west.

There was also this outbreak last year: https://nwsportsmanmag.com/sheep-pneumonia-kills-11-okanogan-bighorns-monitoring-continues/

 

[Oak]

This isn't from those states but last year when checking my ewe in at the Colorado Springs office the biologist said the Pikes Peak herd was struggling with lone rams going into residential type areas and interacting with domestic sheep and then returning to the herd with pneumonia.

It's a problem throughout the state. Here's an example with the Rampart herd near COS. Bighorn sheep are often in Garden of the Gods Park, and Rock Ledge Ranch maintains a herd of domestic sheep. They have been educated about the risk to bighorn sheep by CPW staff.

 

[Oak]

I don't want to muck up Duck-Slayer's deer hunting post but do want to provide more information on domestic goats and respiratory disease in wild sheep.

Although evidence suggests that domestic goat strains of Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae (MOVI) are less virulent to wild sheep than strains found in domestic sheep, it's not accurate to say there is no risk. Just like humans who contract Covid-19, the outcomes for wild sheep with MOVI are not binary (live/die). Low-grade, sub-lethal infection can persist in the adults of a herd and trigger fatal pneumonia outbreaks each summer among susceptible lambs in nursery groups, leading to low recruitment for years or decades.

A paper published a little more than a year ago looked at the genetic structure of MOVI from 594 isolates collected from domestic sheep, domestic goats, bighorn sheep, and mountain goats across the west. Researchers found that domestic goat strains of MOVI form a distinctive clade, and three strains from the domestic goat clade were identified in bighorn isolates from CO, NV, and WA, suggesting at least three spillover events. The abstract of the paper is below, and you can download the open-access paper at this link.

Spillover diseases have significant consequences for human and animal health, as well as wildlife
conservation. We examined spillover and transmission of the pneumonia-associated bacterium
Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae in domestic sheep, domestic goats, bighorn sheep, and mountain goats
across the western United States using 594 isolates, collected from 1984 to 2017. Our results indicate
high genetic diversity of M. ovipneumoniae strains within domestic sheep, whereas only one or a few
strains tend to circulate in most populations of bighorn sheep or mountain goats. These data suggest
domestic sheep are a reservoir, while the few spillovers to bighorn sheep and mountain goats can
persist for extended periods. Domestic goat strains form a distinct clade from those in domestic sheep,
and strains from both clades are found in bighorn sheep. The genetic structure of domestic sheep strains
could not be explained by geography, whereas some strains are spatially clustered and shared among
proximate bighorn sheep populations, supporting pathogen establishment and spread following
spillover. These data suggest that the ability to predict M. ovipneumoniae spillover into wildlife
populations may remain a challenge given the high strain diversity in domestic sheep and need for more
comprehensive pathogen surveillance.

The Rio Grande Gorge bighorn sheep herd is a good recent example. The Gorge herd grew from approximately 150 animals in 2012 to about 400 last year. Individuals from the herd have been tested for MOVI many times over the years and were free of the bacterium. In February 2020, 24 sheep were captured and trucked to UT to use as source stock for the Antelope Island reintroduction. All the sheep were tested and quarantined until results came back. To the biologists' dismay, 6 individuals tested positive for a domestic goat strain of MOVI and were subsequently euthanized. The remaining sheep were held in quarantine but were euthanized in March after beginning to show signs of disease.

Lamb recruitment in the Gorge is typically around 75%, which is quite good and also what has led to the outstanding growth of the population. In the summer of 2020, observers noted adult bighorns from the Gorge herd coughing, but there were no mortalities noted among collared or uncollared bighorns. However, as the summer wore on, it was clear that the lamb crop did not fare as well as in past years. An update I received just this morning indicated that recruitment in 2020 was around 30%. Hunters in the Gorge last fall reported seeing adults coughing and looking sick, yet adult mortality has still not been documented. Those who apply will notice that both ram and ewe licenses have been reduced in 2021.

Now the spillover event in the Gorge was almost certainly the result of a ram wandering and finding a domestic goat hobby flock rather than from contact with pack goats. But this event underscores the concern about the effects from even a less virulent strain of MOVI.

The risk of a spillover event from pack goats in the high country is certainly far lower than having thousands of domestic sheep grazing under the control of one herder and a couple of dogs, but it is not non-existent. As the saying goes, "stuff happens." The incident below occurred in northern Colorado last August. Unfortunately, Rambo, Tarzan, Moe, and Al were never found.



A lost goat could certainly wander around bighorn sheep country and stumble into a bighorn. Would a bighorn sheep even approach domestic goats if it encountered them? The picture below was taken in northern New Mexico (far from the Gorge) in December 2017. The nearest bighorn herd was in southern Colorado, about 50 miles away. NM Game and Fish euthanized the ram due to the risk of disease.



Even the most careful goat packer could encounter an issue in the backcountry beyond his control. Imagine climbing out of your tent in the morning and finding a young bighorn ram standing with your low lined goats. Now you know you need to report the contact, but you're 8 miles from the nearest road and don't have cell service. You have to contact the appropriate wildlife department personnel with your Inreach, explain the situation and your location, and hope they are able to respond and euthanize the bighorn before he wanders off. Good luck.

As I've told Matt in private conversation, I would like to see goat packers, federal agencies, and wild sheep advocates work together to come up with some kind of annual certification process for pack goats in wild sheep habitat, but there are many hurdles to overcome. In the meantime, we can marvel at how the federal agencies I mentioned in Matt's post have conceded the risk from pack goats and have banned their use while continuing to permit thousands and thousands of domestic sheep to graze across the landscape each year.

 

[Oak]

One more thing I meant to add to the last post. The following is from the CPW sheep and goat brochure. This conversation has made me realize the obvious...that it should also be in the big game brochure.

 

[Brittany Chukarman]

Oak, have you any info on the Hart Mt herd. I've heard the last count only turned up 7. No livestock allowed, excellent browse and habitat, but no predator hunting. Lots of cougars. The Lookout herd is in my area.

 

[Oak]

Oak, have you any info on the Hart Mt herd. I've heard the last count only turned up 7. No livestock allowed, excellent browse and habitat, but no predator hunting. Lots of cougars. The Lookout herd is in my area.

I'm not familiar with Hart Mountain personally, but I know someone who is. I do know the USFWS was working on a bighorn sheep management plan for Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge last year.

 

[Brittany Chukarman]

Yes, the refuge.

 

[MarvB]

Oak, have you any info on the Hart Mt herd. I've heard the last count only turned up 7. No livestock allowed, excellent browse and habitat, but no predator hunting. Lots of cougars. The Lookout herd is in my area.

BC (you may already know this but) the Hart Mt. herd had been relatively stable until about 2017 and even peaked at over 400 animals off and in through the 80’s. Has dropped like a rock since with only 68 in the 2019 survey and lamb production and recruitment in recent years dropping to the low 20% range. Damn shame.

 

[MarvB]

Here’s the timeline from the current
(Tentative) EIS On the Hart Mt herd:

Publish Notice of Intent: May 8, 2020
Public Scoping Period: May 8 - June 8, 2020
Complete Draft EIS and Publish Notice of Availability (NOA): October 2020
Public Comment Period: October - November 2020
Final EIS and Publish NOA: March 2021
30-Day Review Period: March - April 2021
Record of Decision: May 2021

 

[rtraverdavis]

Thanks for sharing all this, @Oak, and for your advocacy. When I think about the number of bighorns we have now compared to what they were historically, it’s hard not to contrast that with the recovery successes of deer and elk, and to a lesser extent, antelope. Imagine if there was a disease that acted on deer and elk as quickly and catastrophically as M OVI does on wild sheep—and was easily transmitted by livestock. How would hunters react then?

Bighorns have really gotten the shaft.

 

[Oak]

Imagine if there was a disease that acted on deer and elk as quickly and catastrophically as M OVI does on wild sheep—and was easily transmitted by livestock. How would state wildlife agencies react then?

FIFY

 

[mtnrunner260]

Great updates and thoughts Oak.
Antelope Island was a shame for sure. Both times.
You got any info on the FS decision with the high Unita domestic allotments?

 

[Oak]

You got any info on the FS decision with the high Unita domestic allotments?

I don't know about a timeframe for making that decision. Like many USFS and BLM decisions regarding domestic sheep grazing in bighorn sheep habitat, it seems to be just fading away. The State of Utah DEIS comment letter was terrible for wild sheep and great for domestic sheep producers (see my joke above about state wildlife agencies).

 

[Duck-Slayer]

Oak, have you any info on the Hart Mt herd. I've heard the last count only turned up 7. No livestock allowed, excellent browse and habitat, but no predator hunting. Lots of cougars. The Lookout herd is in my area.

I'm not familiar with Hart Mountain personally, but I know someone who is. I do know the USFWS was working on a bighorn sheep management plan for Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge last year.

So since there’s no livestock allowed..... we can still blame everything on pack goats right??? I’m glad when Mother Nature does it’s thing we don’t make laws to ban her.....
Matt

 

[Duck-Slayer]

I don't want to muck up Duck-Slayer's deer hunting post but do want to provide more information on domestic goats and respiratory disease in wild sheep.

Although evidence suggests that domestic goat strains of Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae (MOVI) are less virulent to wild sheep than strains found in domestic sheep, it's not accurate to say there is no risk. Just like humans who contract Covid-19, the outcomes for wild sheep with MOVI are not binary (live/die). Low-grade, sub-lethal infection can persist in the adults of a herd and trigger fatal pneumonia outbreaks each summer among susceptible lambs in nursery groups, leading to low recruitment for years or decades.

A paper published a little more than a year ago looked at the genetic structure of MOVI from 594 isolates collected from domestic sheep, domestic goats, bighorn sheep, and mountain goats across the west. Researchers found that domestic goat strains of MOVI form a distinctive clade, and three strains from the domestic goat clade were identified in bighorn isolates from CO, NV, and WA, suggesting at least three spillover events. The abstract of the paper is below, and you can download the open-access paper at this link.


The Rio Grande Gorge bighorn sheep herd is a good recent example. The Gorge herd grew from approximately 150 animals in 2012 to about 400 last year. Individuals from the herd have been tested for MOVI many times over the years and were free of the bacterium. In February 2020, 24 sheep were captured and trucked to UT to use as source stock for the Antelope Island reintroduction. All the sheep were tested and quarantined until results came back. To the biologists' dismay, 6 individuals tested positive for a domestic goat strain of MOVI and were subsequently euthanized. The remaining sheep were held in quarantine but were euthanized in March after beginning to show signs of disease.

Lamb recruitment in the Gorge is typically around 75%, which is quite good and also what has led to the outstanding growth of the population. In the summer of 2020, observers noted adult bighorns from the Gorge herd coughing, but there were no mortalities noted among collared or uncollared bighorns. However, as the summer wore on, it was clear that the lamb crop did not fare as well as in past years. An update I received just this morning indicated that recruitment in 2020 was around 30%. Hunters in the Gorge last fall reported seeing adults coughing and looking sick, yet adult mortality has still not been documented. Those who apply will notice that both ram and ewe licenses have been reduced in 2021.

Now the spillover event in the Gorge was almost certainly the result of a ram wandering and finding a domestic goat hobby flock rather than from contact with pack goats. But this event underscores the concern about the effects from even a less virulent strain of MOVI.

The risk of a spillover event from pack goats in the high country is certainly far lower than having thousands of domestic sheep grazing under the control of one herder and a couple of dogs, but it is not non-existent. As the saying goes, "stuff happens." The incident below occurred in northern Colorado last August. Unfortunately, Rambo, Tarzan, Moe, and Al were never found.

View attachment 172595

A lost goat could certainly wander around bighorn sheep country and stumble into a bighorn. Would a bighorn sheep even approach domestic goats if it encountered them? The picture below was taken in northern New Mexico (far from the Gorge) in December 2017. The nearest bighorn herd was in southern Colorado, about 50 miles away. NM Game and Fish euthanized the ram due to the risk of disease.

View attachment 172596

Even the most careful goat packer could encounter an issue in the backcountry beyond his control. Imagine climbing out of your tent in the morning and finding a young bighorn ram standing with your low lined goats. Now you know you need to report the contact, but you're 8 miles from the nearest road and don't have cell service. You have to contact the appropriate wildlife department personnel with your Inreach, explain the situation and your location, and hope they are able to respond and euthanize the bighorn before he wanders off. Good luck.

As I've told Matt in private conversation, I would like to see goat packers, federal agencies, and wild sheep advocates work together to come up with some kind of annual certification process for pack goats in wild sheep habitat, but there are many hurdles to overcome. In the meantime, we can marvel at how the federal agencies I mentioned in Matt's post have conceded the risk from pack goats and have banned their use while continuing to permit thousands and thousands of domestic sheep to graze across the landscape each year.

So banning pack goats is going to solve all issues with bighorns dying from MOVI? So bighorns don’t get pneumonia on their own like every other living animal???
Immediately they have to take it out on responsible Pack Goat owners???
Obviously there are exceptions to that rule where @Oak was gracious enough to immediately point out one case. Which is there any evidence that those particular goats lead to a significant Bighorn die off?
I don’t believe I have heard of a die off of bighorn sheep directly related to exposure to Pack Goats???
Also I believe Mountain Goats carry all the same diseases that domestic goats carry, so should we ban all Mountain Goats from bighorn habitat??? I’m sure that would go over splendid!
You all need a scape goat so your precious wild sheep foundation can keep getting all its donations, gotta show all the members there money is doing something by nocking off the rise in people using pack goats!

How about educating goat breeders and organizations and making push to Eradicate pneumonia in Pack goat breeders herds and to push the fact you should buy pack goats from clean herds and continue educating people who use pack goats in bighorn ranges!

The rocky mountain bighorn foundation should also educate their members on pack goats and how they are successfully used, instead of demonizing the use of pack goats.

I believe I made all valid points on the subject.
Matt

 

[Bluffgruff]

Shame to risk any deliberate or accidental setbacks to 100+ years of efforts to protect and restore native bighorn sheep populations in order to placate a micro-niche community of pack-goaters. Just saying.

 

[Duck-Slayer]

Shame to risk any deliberate or accidental setbacks to 100+ years of efforts to protect and restore native bighorn sheep populations in order to placate a micro-niche community of pack-goaters. Just saying.

Did you know some of the first studies done in WY on bighorn sheep were done with the use of Pack Goats? This led to lots of research and helped the management of those bighorns....
Micro-Niche really, wow
A true communist statement, you vote for Biden? That would explain a lot.
Matt