01/04/08 Bighorn dilemma II

Yesterday, I told you about the accusation that domestic sheep could cause bighorn sheep to die. I'm Jeff Keane today I'll tell you about some research and observations. Environmentalists of the radical Western Watersheds Project and wildlife biologists don't have a conclusive answer to why bighorn sheep experience die-off but they suspect domestic sheep so they are calling for removal of the domestics from Idaho national forests. They base their reasons on questionable evidence. One study confined bighorn sheep with domestic sheep, llamas, cattle, mountain goats, and domestic goats. The cattle, goats and llamas were confined with bighorns in one to two acre outside lots, while the domestic sheep and bighorns were housed inside a barn in a four by seven meter pen. Hardly the same criteria. The bighorns died. Was it because of the domestic sheep or stress to the bighorns? It has been proven by the University of Idaho's Caine Veterinary Teaching Center and the Nevada Animal Disease and Food Safety Laboratory that bighorn do carry different Pasteurella bacteria strains. Domestic sheep also carry Pasteurella strains, but neither laboratory has found evidence of a domestic sheep Pasteurella organism killing a bighorn sheep. It has been found that normally nondisease-causing Pasteurella strains can cause disease if stress, lungworms, viruses or other bacteria weaken a bighorn's immune system. Maybe the Western Watersheds Project is riding a dead bighorn to win an agenda. I'm Jeff Keane. Range Magazine Winter 2007