News

Note: For some of the most comprehensive news straight from bighorn biologists, visit the Meeting Minutes page of the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies' Wild Sheep Working Group.

April 30, 2015
This site has recently undergone major updates, which are summarized below. Because of work and other demands, I may not update this site much in the near future. However, it now holds a solid foundation of information and is part of a free hosting service, which means it should be online for a long time.

Besser, Thomas E., E. Frances Cassirer, Margaret A. Highland, Peregrine Wolffd, Anne Justice-Allen, Kristin Mansfield, Margaret A. Davis, and William Foreyt. Bighorn sheep pneumonia: Sorting out the cause of a polymicrobial disease. 2013. Preventative Veterinary Medicine 108, no. 2-3 (February): 85-93.

Besser, Thomas E., E. Frances Cassirer, Kathleen A. Potter, John VanderSchalie, Allison Fischer, Donald P. Knowles, David R. Herndon, Fred R. Rurangirwa, Glen C Weiser, and Subramaniam Srikumaran. 2008. Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae infection with population-limiting respiratory disease in free-ranging Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis canadensis). Journal of Clinical Microbiology 46, no. 2 (February): 423-430.

Besser, Thomas E., E. Frances Cassirer, Kathleen A. Potter, Kevin Lahmers, J. Lindsay Oaks, Sudarvili Shanthalingam, Subramaniam Srikumaran, and William J. Foreyt. 2014. Epizootic pneumonia of bighorn sheep following experimental exposure to Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae. PLoS ONE 9, no. 10 (October): 1-9.

Besser, Thomas, Catherine Yamada, E. Frances Cassirer, Donald Knowles, J. Lindsay Oaks, Shannon Swist, Caroline Herndon, Srikumaran Subramaniam. 2010. Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae as a primary agent of epidemic respiratory disease in bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) commingled with domestic sheep (Ovis aries). In proceedings of Northern Wild Sheep and Goat Council’s 17th Biennial Symposium, Hood River, OR. June 7-11.

Besser, Thomas E., E. Frances Cassirer, Catherine Yamada, Kathleen A. Potter, Caroline Herndon, William J. Foreyt, Donald P. Knowles, and Subramaniam Srikumaran. 2012. Survival of bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) commingled with domestic sheep (Ovis aries) in the absence of mycoplasma ovipneumoniae. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 48, no. 1 (January): 168-172.

Besser, Thomas E., Margaret A. Highland, Katherine Baker, E. Frances Cassirer, Neil J. Anderson, Jennifer M. Ramsey, Kristin Mansfield, Darren L. Bruning, Peregrine Wolff, Joshua B. Smith, and Jonathan A. Jenks. 2012. Causes of pneumonia epizootics among bighorn sheep, Western United States, 2008-2010. Emerging Infectious Diseases 18, no. 3 (March): 406-414.

Bureau of Land Management (BLM). 1989. Rangewide Plan For Managing Habitat of Desert Bighorn Sheep. Washington, D.C. https://books.google.com/books?id=Y6zwAAAAMAAJ&pg
=PA1&lpg=PA1&dq=Rangewide+Plan+For+Managing+Habitat+of+Desert+Bighorn+Sheep
&source=bl&ots=7FeNzbMqXf&sig=JyEjA_pI7fC4GAJtGxmuC5bDmzM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=wX
7VI_HLomrogTksIDoBA&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=Rangewide%20Plan%20For%
20Managing%20Habitat%20of%20Desert%20Bighorn%20Sheep&f=false (accessed May 20,
2012). [govt. doc.]

Dassanayake, Rohana P., Sudarvili Shanthalingam, Caroline N. Herndon, Renuka Subramaniam, Paulraj K. Lawrence, Jegarubee Bavananthasivam, E. Frances Cassirer, Gary J. Haldorson, William J. Foreyt, Fred R. Rurangirwa, Donald P. Knowles, Thomas E. Besser, Subramaniam Srikumaran. 2010. Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae can predispose bighorn sheep to fatal Mannheimia haemolytica pneumonia. Veterinary Microbiology 145, no. 3-4 (October): 354-359.

Foreyt, William J., and D.A. Jessup. 1982. Fatal pneumonia of bighorn sheep following association with domestic sheep. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 18, no. 2 (April): 163-168.

Hoar, Kerrie L., David E. Worley, and Keith E. Aune. 1996. Parasite loads and their relationship to herd health in the Highlands bighorn sheep herd in southwestern Montana. In proceedings of Northern Wild Sheep and Goat Council’s 10th Biennial Symposium, Silverthorne, CO. April 29-May 3.

Joe Saval Co. v. Bureau of Land Management and State of Nevada, Department of Wildlife, Intervenor. 119 IBLA 202 (1991). http://www.oha.doi.gov/IBLA/Ibla decisions/119IBLA/ 119IBLA202%20JOE%20SAVAL%20CO.%20V.%20BLM,%20NEVADA%20%28APPELLANTS% 29%205-7-1991.pdf (accessed November 5, 2012).

Justice-Allen, Anne E., Clint J. Luedtke, Matthew Overstreet, James W. Cain III, and Thomas R. Stephenson. 2011. Prevalence of Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae in desert bighorn sheep in Arizona. In transactions of Desert bighorn Council's 51st meeting, Laughlin, NV. April 6-8.

Oaks, Lindsay J., Thomas Besser, Frances Cassirer, Timothy V. Baszler, and Catherine Yamada. 2010. Diagnosis of Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae in bighorn sheep. In proceedings of Northern Wild Sheep and Goat Council’s 17th Biennial Symposium, Hood River, OR. June 7-11.

Plowright, Raina K., Kezia Manlove, E. Frances Cassirer, Paul C. Cross, Thomas E. Besser, and Peter J. Hudson. 2013. Use of exposure history to identify patterns of immunity to pneumonia in bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis). PLoS ONE 8, no. 4 (April): 1-12.

Safaee, Shirin, Glen C. Weiser, E. Frances Cassirer, Rob R. Ramey, and Scott T. Kelley. 2006. Microbial diversity in bighorn sheep revealed by culture-independent methods. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 42, no. 3 (July): 545-555.

The Wildlife Society and American Association of Wildlife Veterinarians (TWS and AAWV). 2015. Joint Issue Statement: Domestic Sheep and Goats Disease Transmission Risk to Wild Sheep. http://wildlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/WS-DS_DiseaseTransmission _TWS-AAWV_JointStatement_APPROVED.pdf (accessed April 26, 2015).

U.S. Forest Service (USFS). 2007. Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis): A Technical Conservation Assessment, Prepared for the USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region, February 12, 2007, by John J. Beecham, Cameron P. Collins, and Timothy D. Reynolds. Rigby, ID. http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/projects/scp/assessments/rockymountainbig hornsheep.pdf (accessed January 7, 2012). [govt. doc.]

Weiser, Glen C., Mark L. Drew, E. Frances Cassirer, and Alton C.S. Ward. 2012. Detection of Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae and M. arginini in bighorn sheep using enrichment culture coupled with genus- and species-specific polymerase chain reaction. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 48, no. 2 (April): 449-453.

Ziegler, Jessie C., Kevin K. Lahmers, George M. Barrington, Steven M. Parish, Katherine Kilzer, Katherine Baker, and Thomas E. Besser. 2014. Safety and immunogenicity of a Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae bacterin for domestic sheep (Ovis aries). PLoS ONE 9, no. 4 (April): 1-7.

April 29, 2015

NEW BIGHORN DISEASE SITE
I recently discovered the Bighorn Sheep Disease Research Consortium website and posted a link to it on the Website Links page. This site is similar to Bighorn Disease Info, except it has official funding and endorsement from various agencies and groups. It provides a loose assemblage of information about the bighorn disease problem and far fewer resources than this site. However, with its aesthetically pleasing design and important connections, it has a lot of positive potential.

NEW ISSUE STATEMENT FROM SCIENITIFIC GROUPS
In other news, in March, The Wildlife Society and the American Association of Wildlife Veterinarians released a joint issue statement entitled Domestic Sheep and Goats' Disease Transmission Risk to Wild Sheep. An article on The Wildlife Society's website states: "The organizations have issued this statement to inform and encourage actions that further the restoration and conservation of wild sheep populations in North America."

The 3-page document covers important basic information about the disease threat and includes references and a list of nine policies The Wildlife Society and the American Association of Wildlife Veterinarians advocate regarding the risk of wild-domestic sheep disease transmission. A big part of the policies was the importance of recognizing bighorn disease science and the threat domestic sheep and goats pose. The document has been posted on the Evidence Documents bibliography on this site.

WILD SHEEP WORKING GROUP WEBSITE UPDATES
I'm not sure how new this is, but the Wild Sheep Working Group (WSWG) now has a reporting feature on their website that allows visitors to report "observed proximity between wild sheep and domestic sheep and goats."

The WSWG site also now features 2014 bighorn range/domestic sheep allotment maps. Similar 2012 maps have been on this site for three years.

Moreover, the WSWG site seems to stay current with posting of PDFs for its quarterly meeting minutes. These documents were a great help during my thesis research and give one an idea of what it is like to be a biologist struggling with the tough task of separating wild and domestic sheep. They are also a reliable source of news regarding the wild-domestic sheep disease problem.

January 28, 2015
A full-time job (I’m now a GIS specialist/planner) and a dying computer delayed site updates last year, but do not fear, Bighorn Disease Info has not been permanently abandoned. I plan to gradually update this site with new and recent information. The news roundup below (and its associated commentary) is the beginning of such updating.

NEWS ARTICLE ROUNDUP

Bighorn die-off near Gardiner climbs to 30
Brett French – January 19, 2015 – Missoulian

Wyoming grazing dispute threatens bighorn sheep
Sarah Jane Keller – January 9, 2015 – High Country News

Conservation groups, landowner battle over domestic sheep
Christine Peterson – January 4, 2015 - Casper Star-Tribune

Montana’s bighorn dilemma
Brady Miller – October 31, 2014 – Gohunt.com

Bighorn mortality slowing, but only time will tell how many die
Lauren Donovan – September 9, 2014 – The Bismarck Tribune

Big win for Payette National Forest bighorn sheep
Ken Cole – March 26, 2014 – The Wildlife News
Note: This is a blog article put out by an environmental advocacy group.

Lobbying against a hobby: Disease keeps bighorn sheep at the edge
Laura Lundquist – January 23, 2014 – Bozeman Daily Chronicle

Bighorn sheep mingle with Gardiner domestic sheep
Laura Lundquist – December 3, 2013 – Bozeman Daily Chronicle

The bighorn-domestic sheep disease issue continues to regularly show up in the news. To briefly summarize the articles above, from late 2013 to January 2015:

One of the most striking incidents in the news is the case of a Wyoming cattle rancher (Frank Robbins) who started running domestic sheep because of grazing lease disputes with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Robbins placed domestic sheep on bighorn habitat knowing of the concern regarding disease transmission. The January 4 Casper Star-Tribune article (by Christine Peterson) and January 9 High Country News article (by Sarah Jane Keller) cover this situation.

According to Peterson, in an April 2012 letter to the BLM, Robbins wrote:

“If and when a bighorn die-off occurs I want you to know that we feel we have done everything that we have been ask (sic) and been patient for years and you will have to answer for what happens.”

Thinking back on my thesis research, I do not recall running into any specific well-documented stories about a rancher acting quite so openly cavalier regarding the disease problem. Despite the quote above, Peterson writes that Robbins “doesn’t believe domestic sheep harm bighorn sheep.”

Based on my research, the reaction of domestic sheep ranchers (and others who happen to own domestic sheep) to the bighorn disease problem can include denial, questioning of some science, or cooperation with wildlife managers and conservation groups. Some people are also unaware of the problem.

Another notable facet of Peterson’s article was that the BLM and Wyoming Department of Game and Fish have not been effectively cooperating to prevent the trespass of Robbins’s domestic sheep onto public land bighorn habitat. According to Peterson: “One BLM biologist was even suspended for insubordination in September after asking the Wyoming Game and Fish Department to help the BLM document the trespass, according to BLM documents shared with the Star-Tribune.”

To excerpt more comments that Peterson quotes:

Kevin Hurley (conservation director of the Wild Sheep Foundation) stated: “We are unsatisfied with the responses we’ve heard from BLM management.”  Hurley also said: “It’s not staff; it’s the BLM management. Then they go ahead and punish their employee who was doing their job.”

Coordination/tension between wildlife and land management agencies was one factor I examined in my thesis research. Of the case study locations I examined, coordination and collaboration among state wildlife managers and federal land management agencies seemed to be more common than tension. However, when state bighorn managers filled out wild sheep status questionnaires at the 1999 North American Wild Sheep Conference (co-hosted by the Desert Bighorn Council and Northern Wild Sheep and Goat Council), 10 states listed livestock grazing or domestic sheep as a state-federal relationship challenge (Arthur et al. 1999). 

The December 2013 Bozeman Daily Chronicle article features a story about Hurley happening upon and photographing a bighorn ram interacting with domestic sheep near Gardiner, Montana. Hurley was a big help during my thesis research efforts and has played an important role in bighorn disease research for years.

September 1, 2013
LATEST BIGHORN DISEASE OUTBREAK
Earlier in the summer, a pneumonia outbreak struck a population of desert bighorns living on the Mojave National Preserve in southeastern California. Dozens of bighorns have died as a result. Closer to the beginning of the outbreak, wildlife managers thought a feral angora goat was the source of the disease. As is emphasized elsewhere on this site (and in my thesis) domestic goats pose a disease threat to bighorns that is comparable to the domestic sheep threat. However, an August 29 news update from the National Park Service says domestic sheep carcasses and pellets were found in the vicinity of the outbreak. So, a goat and/or domestic sheep may have caused the disease outbreak.

Below are news articles about the story. The author of the The Press-Enterprise article visited this site and contacted me as part of her research.

Disease Outbreak in Desert Bighorn Sheep
National Park Service – August 29, 2013 – Mojave National Preserve Website

Mojave Desert: Pneumonia Outbreak kills dozens of bighorn sheep
Janet Zimmerman – August 14, 2013 – The Press-Enterprise

Diseased bighorn sheep might have to be killed in Mojave National Preserve
Henry Brean – June 19, 2013 – Las Vegas Review-Journal

RECENT PUBLICATIONS
This summer, the California Chapter of the Wild Sheep Foundation published an article about this website and my master’s thesis in their summer newsletter. Additionally, the Washington and Eastern Chapters of the Wild Sheep Foundation published my article, “Bighorns Deadliest Obstacle: Domestic Sheep Disease,” in their newsletters.

May 25, 2013
MASTER’S THESIS: OH SO COMPLETE!
I finally finished polishing and submitting my master’s thesis earlier this week. It has now been posted on this site and is accessible via the menu bar at left. As I emphasize elsewhere, my thesis is the main reason this site exists. For a huge amount of information on the bighorn-domestic disease issue in general and related policies in particular, check out my thesis.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS
The first installment of an article I wrote, “Bighorns’ Deadliest Obstacle: Domestic Sheep Disease,” was published in April in the spring 2013 issue of Nevada Bighorns Unlimited’s NBU Journal. Part 2 will be published in NBU’s summer issue.

The article was derived from my thesis and features a condensed (though still pretty hefty) summary of the biology, policy, and controversy components of the bighorn-domestic sheep problem. An older version of “Bighorns’ Deadliest Obstacle” was published in the newsletter of the Idaho Wild Sheep Foundation last summer. Additionally, both the Eastern Chapter and Washington Chapter of the Wild Sheep Foundation have plans to publish the article.

WILD SHEEP WORKING GROUP’S NEW WEBSITE
In other news, the Wild Sheep Working Group (WSWG) of the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA) recently updated its website. Reading about website update plans in WSWG meeting minutes from years ago helped inspire me to design this site. Though not nearly as in-depth as bighorndiseaseinfo.org, the WSWG’s efforts are laudable. The new WSWG site features bighorn historic range maps (also in my thesis), translocation maps, 2013 North American Wild Sheep population estimates, and a series of lecture videos covering the role Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae plays in bighorn disease outbreaks. These videos have also been embedded in the “Videos” section of this site.

In addition to Mannheimia (formerly Pasteurella) haemolytica, Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae is another prominent bacterium that can cause bighorn respiratory disease. However, in the literature I reviewed, it was not emphasized as much as Mannheimia haemolytica, and I never wrote a section on it. In my thesis, it is only briefly mentioned in the summary of the Hays Canyon Range die-off.

February 14, 2013
Butting heads: Ranchers unhappy with lawsuit; Bighorn sheep bill moves forward
Nichole L. Ballard – January 29, 2013 – Rawlins Times

This article illustrates how the bighorn-domestic sheep disease problem has recently been sparking tension in southern Wyoming’s Carbon County. There, the Biodiversity Conservation Alliance is suing the U.S. Forest Service because it permits domestic sheep grazing in the Encampment bighorn population’s habitat on the Medicine Bow National Forest. Concern over disease transmissioin motivated the lawsuit. Ballard provides an update on the Wyoming House bill covered in a 9/19/12 Associated Press article.

“[Senator Larry] Hicks sponsored a bill, SF76, which would require the relocation or removal of bighorn sheep herds from forest boundaries, if domestic sheep grazing is suspended or eliminated in the area. The bill was passed through the Senate Jan. 23 and sent on to a House Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Committee.”

December 24, 2012
Earlier this month, I finished a first draft of my master’s thesis examining wild-domestic sheep interaction policy. Now, I need to wait for my advisor to review it before I carry out my final defense. My thesis is lengthy and in-depth. I will post it on this website in spring 2013.

Much of this site’s material is presented in a more organized, streamlined fashion in my thesis. However, the thesis also presents six case studies investigating what policy was in place in bighorn disease outbreak locations from 1990-2010. These case studies are not on this site and may provide new insights.

NEWS ARTICLE ROUNDUP
I’ve been busy with school, but news on the bighorn-domestic sheep disease front has continued. Check out the articles below.

Bighorn sheep reintroduction bypassed for now
Laura Lundquist - December 11, 2012 - Bozeman Daily Chronicle

FWP seeks to reintroduce bighorns in Bridger Mountains
Laura Lundquist - November 18, 2012 - Bozeman Daily Chronicle

Much ado about mutton
Emily Guerin - November 15, 2012 - High Country News
Does not cover bighorns but provides insight on economics of domestic sheep industry.

Wyoming could move or kill Encampment bighorns
Associated Press - September 19, 2012 - Billings Gazette

SITE UPDATES
I added links to wild sheep management plans for Alberta, British Columbia, and South Dakota. View the plans by clicking on the BIGHORN MANAGEMENT PLANS button in the menu bar.

September 19, 2012
The Idaho Wool Growers Association, American Sheep Industry Association, Public Lands Council, and some Colorado and Wyoming sheep ranchers are suing the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) over its 2010 Record of Decision (ROD) that restricted domestic sheep grazing on the Payette National Forest in an effort to protect bighorns.

The plaintiffs are challenging the USFS on procedural grounds based on how the agency set up an advisory committee to aid with the formation of both an ROD and environmental impact statement. The sheep producers are also suing on substantive grounds, claiming that the USFS used flawed disease science.

For background on the Payette situation, check out my write-ups on the Payette decision and related Congressional riders. The Idaho Public Television videos on this page are also informative.

While environmental groups and bighorn advocates have often used litigation in the last several decades to combat the domestic sheep disease threat, this story illustrates that litigation is a tool that can be used by people on various sides of contentious natural resource issues.

A September 17 article (“Sheep men demand use of National Forest”) provided by the Courthouse News Service discusses the recent litigation. According to the article, domestic sheep advocates have stated that: “The [ROD] was based on the theory that contact between domestic sheep and bighorns under range conditions results in the transmission of fatal pathogens from domestic sheep to bighorns 100 percent of the time.”

A perusal of the 2010 ROD does not reveal a statement saying what the sheep ranchers claim. For my thesis research, I examined many government documents, and the trend regarding agency statements was that disease transmission from domestic sheep to bighorns was likely but not necessarily mutually exclusive or guaranteed every time interaction or proximity occurred. Government documents on this site feature numerous examples of such language. Below is an excerpt from page 6 of the litigated ROD.

“Extensive scientific literature supports the relationship between disease in bighorn sheep populations and contact with domestic sheep although the mechanisms of disease transmission are not fully understood. Field observations have associated bighorn sheep respiratory disease events when observed near domestic sheep, which has led to numerous independent research efforts. The results of this research provide strong evidence that bighorn sheep have a high probability of contracting fatal pneumonia following contact with domestic sheep.”

Despite the trends discussed above, some percentage language occurs on page 12 of the ROD. However, the USFS used numerous percentages in it estimates and admits that making transmission probability estimates is full of uncertainty. Below is an excerpt.

“Determining the probability that a bighorn will reach an occupied allotment and that contact between the species will result in disease transmission is problematic. In a similar analysis applied to populations of endangered Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep, researchers assumed that any cohabitation with domestic sheep was equivalent to contact and subsequent disease transmission (i.e., 100 percent probability of a contact resulting in disease transmission). In the analysis for this FSEIS, we used a range of probabilities of contact resulting in disease transmission because there is so much uncertainty surrounding this parameter and essentially no research that would allow its estimation. The values we used were 5 percent, 10 percent, 25 percent, 50 percent, 75 percent, and 100 percent. By using a range of values, we also were able to address arguments that question the hypothesis that bighorn sheep have a high likelihood of contracting fatal respiratory disease following contact with domestic sheep.”

Western Watersheds Project provides their view on the story in a blog article entitled: Woolgrowers deny germ theory.

September 16, 2012
The Idaho Wool Growers Association recently lost a court case they filed against the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) over the issue of IDFG not limiting the U.S. Forest Service’s ability to restrict domestic sheep in order to protect bighorns. Ken Cole (NEPA Director for Western Watersheds Project) summarizes the litigation actions on The Wildlife News blog, which is run by Western Watersheds Project staff. The official ruling was filed on September 14 and can be read here.

August 10, 2012
Thanks to Bob Henry of the Arizona Game & Fish Department, new photos have been added to the free-range interaction gallery. The images were shot in 2004 and feature a desert bighorn ram mingling with domestic sheep in southwestern Arizona's Dome Valley, which is near the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge.

desert bighorn ram with domestic sheep in Arizona_1

August 6, 2012
Bighorndiseaseinfo.org has been repeatedly updated and augmented since its launch in May 2012. This section has been added to keep regular visitors updated on new site material, developments with the disease issue, and the research and education efforts of the Bighorn Disease Info project.

NEW ARTICLE
On July 31, an in-depth article I wrote on the disease issue (“Bighorns’ Deadliest Obstacle: Domestic Sheep Disease”) was posted on the website of the Wild Sheep Foundation’s Idaho chapter. The article presents much of this site’s info in a condensed and reorganized manner.

OUTSIDE RECOGNITION
This site has also received recognition from various bighorn advocacy group representatives, including the Wild Sheep Foundation’s Conservation Director, Kevin Hurley. The Wild Sheep Foundation now links to bighorndiseaseinfo.org on its Wild Sheep-Domestic Sheep page.

Additionally, the prominent and sometimes infamously litigious conservation group, Western Watersheds Project, has linked to this site on their Bighorn Sheep Page.

Furthermore, the California-based Society for the Conservation of Bighorn Sheep has linked to bighorndiseaseinfo.org on their Links page.

Representatives of the Alberta Lamb Producers and BC Sheep Federation have also visited this site.

UPDATES
A free-range interaction photo gallery was added and should expand. Below is a sample photo. I have leads on other images. More public domain images of bighorns and domestic sheep have also recently been sprinkled throughout the background narratives.

young bighorn rams bedded with domestic ewes