MT - Major Big Horn Die Off

[Big Fin]

We heard in January that the sheep in the Elkhorns were dying, but now it seems we have more information about the likely cause.

I know they have worked hard with the one rancher, and have not had any problems.

Then some guy with a pack of goats moves on to a patented mining claim located near the sheep wintering grounds, lets his goats run all over, and wallah - dead sheep everywhere.

Seems very coincidental that once the goats show up and are let out to pasture, the sheep die off occurs. Who knows for sure what caused it, but it is another example of knot heads doing dumb shit without any comprehension of the problems they are creating.

That guy better enter the witness protection program. I have some friends who have donated hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars helping get those sheep established. And they ain't very happy.

WTF. After all the money and work that went into getting this herd going. They shot a couple booners there in the last few years. It's all tits up now. :BLEEP:|oo:BLEEP:|oo

Helena Independent Record: 4/11/2008

Montana FWP photo - A bighorn sheep rests on a mountainside in this FWP file photo. An all-age die-off has decimated the herd in the Elkhorn Mountains, FWP officials say.
The wild bighorn sheep in the Elkhorn Mountains have suffered an “all-age die-off,” with only 19 found alive last week.

“If this die-off hadn’t occurred, we should have had around 220, plus or minus a few,” said Tom Carlsen, a Fish, Wildlife and Parks biologist. “This is what we call an all-age die-off, meaning sheep of all ages — lambs, older adults — all the animals are affected.

“I’m not aware of any place in Montana where we’ve had a die-off of this magnitude. We lost over 90 percent of the herd.”

Carlsen said all the sheep that he saw appeared to be healthy.

The die-off was suspected in January, after 12 dead sheep were found. Tests confirm that they suffered from pneumonia, which bighorn sheep can catch through nose-to-nose contact with domestic sheep or goats. The domesticated animals have a built-in immunity to pneumonia, but the disease is fatal for wild bighorns.

Carlsen also confirmed that there was some “mixing” of the bighorns with at least one domestic herd of sheep, and possibly with a herd of goats.

The sheep herd owner has a grazing allotment that predates the 1996 FWP effort that involved transplanting 75 bighorn sheep in the hopes of re-establishing a herd in the Elkhorns. Under the state’s policy, this herd owner won’t be held accountable for the deaths since he was there first.

“He’s been pretty good to work with,” Carlsen said. “He has a herder and dogs, and they were pretty effective in chasing the bighorn sheep away.”

Carlsen noted that the bighorns were transplanted at least six miles away from the rancher’s grazing site, but that the younger rams apparently roamed farther during the rut than biologists anticipated.

“Over time, as the herd numbers increased, they wandered closer to the domestic sheep, which surprised us because it wasn’t their kind of habitat,” Carlsen said. “But the young rams can get kicked out of the ewe groups by older rams.”

However, in the south end of the Elkhorns, someone bought a 20-acre patented mining claim nearly surrounded by public lands and moved in some small trailers and a “menagerie” of domestic animals including llamas and goats, Carlsen said. Some of the animals run loose, and were seen on public lands, which is illegal without a grazing permit. He said they were about a mile from what’s left of the bighorn sheep herd.

Carlsen suspects that those goats, which also can transmit pneumonia to wild sheep, mixed with the bighorns too.

Steve Merritt, information officer for the Department of Livestock, confirmed that their district inspector recently seized about 20-30 stray goats from that area, which were sold at an auction on Monday. The animals were confiscated because they were illegally grazing on public lands.

Carlsen said he doesn’t know if they’ll transplant additional bighorn sheep to try to shore up the current population, and he’s doubtful that the 19 bighorns will be able to grow the size of the herd on their own, so he’s not sure what their future holds.

He notes that pneumonia stays in the survivors’ systems for a number of years, and it can negatively affect lamb production. In addition, investigations are ongoing as to what causes the pneumonia in the bighorn population, and how it might be better controlled.

“At this point, I don’t think we’ll be talking about restocking more bighorn sheep in the Elkhorns in the future,” Carlsen said.

Montana has an estimated 5,820 bighorn sheep in 48 distinct populations. The state currently is working on a conservation strategy to increase those numbers and to outline future management plans.

“We’ll use this as a learning experience, and it will have some direct input into how we address this issue,” Carlsen said.

Scientists are also trying to figure out why the pneumonia only affects the wild animals, but not the domestic ones that carry the bacteria. Samples were taken from the Elkhorn bighorns, and Carlsen is awaiting those results.

“We want to know not just if they have pneumonia, but what caused it,” Carlsen said. “Different things can stress the immune system and might make them more susceptible.”

 

[shoots-straight]

This is sad, this ignorace takes place every year in some part of the wild sheep range. People still don't believe that it's going to take place. It's not a matter of if, but when the die off will occur.
About a dozen years ago, a state lease up the east fork had cows running on it. Then the rancher decided to run sheep without notice. We ( Ravalli County Fish & Wildlife) sued the state to take the lease away or make him put back cows and only allow cattle on those lands. WE Won! Saved the sheep in the East Fork at least till the next moron decides to put sheep or goats somewhere in the area.

 

[T Bone]

Ah bummer. Tough deal for the sportsmen of MT.

 

[TLC]

start shooting the damn goats, and send the meat to chicago. all kinds of africans up that way that will pay big money to get their hands on goat meat. have a customer that wants to open up a goat farm for just this reason. raise goats, butcher them, and sell the meat to his homeland brothers.

 

[shoots-straight]

I find it always funny that the SS and S ers always get rolling when a wolf kills some elk and people take a picture of the kill. Rarely do that same people speak the same three SSS when talking about a threat more severe than wolves.:BLEEP:

 

[BigHornRam]

SS,

Remember a couple years back when a California bimbo decided to let her goats be free up in Skalkaho before she moved back to the land of fruits and nuts? Luckly they were "removed" before they could infect the wild sheep herd.
IDIOTS!

 

[BigHornRam]

What happened to Jose's pathetic post? Did he pull it himself, or did someone else do it?

 

[Calif. Hunter]

I deleted it because he cannot seem to understand that Moosie wants name-calling restricted to the limited access/debate areas of the forum (Sportman's Issues and Current Events.)

 

[TOM IN TENNESSEE]

JEEZ !!! Idiot goat herder!
We nedd Fed legislation to end some patents in selected lands that are prime habitat for indigenous species! Congress passes everything the "Greenies" want! How about helping indigenous species other than cudly Griz and lovable wolves!!!??? Hug a cute "WILD" burro or adopt a "WILD" Horse today!!!

 

[ELKCHSR]

Carefull Rick...

Theres going to be an uproar from a few of the people on this board because name calling is supposed to be open ended for some here...

 

[mtmiller]

We nedd Fed legislation to end some patents in selected lands that are prime habitat for indigenous species! Congress passes everything the "Greenies" want! How about helping indigenous species other than cudly Griz and lovable wolves!!!??? Hug a cute "WILD" burro or adopt a "WILD" Horse today!!!

Tom, is it just the indigenous species you prefer or all indigenous? There are also quite a few places where we have bighorn sheep (or other non-natives), but they are not indigenous.