More Sheep Caught To Help Stop Disease

In a follow-up mission last week, a helicopter was called in to drop nets and capture 14 more bighorn sheep along the Snake River in Asotin County to help stop the spread of a pneumonia-like disease that threatens the herd.

Earlier this month, 58 bighorns had been captured and quarantined.

The drastic action was approved by the Washington Fish and Wildlife Department after about two dozen of the sheep died from the quick-spreading disease.

The total documented death count in the field is 34, said Pat Fowler, Washington Fish and Game Department biologist in Walla Walla.

One captured bighorn died earlier this week at an Idaho Department of Agriculture facility in Caldwell, where the wild sheep have been quarantined and treated with antibiotics.

The states of Washington, Idaho and Oregon worked together in the bighorn roundup, knowing that the disease could spread to herds in the three states. Bighorns, while hardy to weather and terrain, are particularly susceptible to this pasteurella pneumonia disease, Fowler said.

Biologists discovered bighorns that were coughing on the Oregon side of the Grande Ronde river this week. “We plan to fly the area Friday,” Fowler said. “If the sheep look sick, we’ll have to go to plan two, whatever that is.” He said at least 80 bighorns are in that area.

Meanwhile, the captured sheep have survived their ordeal far better than veterinarians had predicted.

“Hopefully we’ll have a few to release sometime down the line,” said Lloyd Oldenburg, big game manager for the Idaho Fish and Game Department.

Some of the ewes are pregnant, however. No release could be allowed until after the young are weaned and certified disease-free.

“We doubt there will be any releases until fall,” he said.

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