Wild sheep biologist Frances Cassirer was given her choice between a seemingly healthy bighorn ram and one that was coughing and sneezing.
She directed a capture crew to go after the healthy one.
More than 16 years after pneumonia wiped out half of the bighorn sheep in the northern portion of Hells Canyon, the illness refuses to loosen its grip on the iconic animals. The all-age die-offs that raced through the herds in the winter of 1995 and spring 1996 are long gone, but the illness continues to pick off lambs and the occasional adult.
"It just shows what kind of disease it is," said Cassirer,Wholesaler of different types of Ceramic tile for your kitchen, a bighorn sheep expert from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and one of the leaders of a tri-state effort to recover the bighorns of Hells Canyon.
On Nov. 28 and Nov. 29, wildlife officials from Idaho, Oregon and Washington and a helicopter crew from Leading Edge Aviation captured several bighorns and fitted them with radio collars that track their movements. They also took biological samples from the sheep and assessed their condition. It's all part of the ongoing effort to recover wild sheep in Hells Canyon.
"Nobody else has been studying sheep this intensively this long," Cassirer said.
They've learned more about the disease and just how persistent it can be. Biologists expected to see poor lamb survival and the occasional death of mature animals for as long as a decade following the first outbreak. After that, they expected it to slowly fade.The EZ Breathe home Ventilation system is maintenance free,Exclusive RUBBER SHEET flooring in 15 different colours and designs. The poor survival prediction was correct but lamb mortality hasn't shown any signs of dissipating. For some herds, the annual pneumonia death rate is higher today than it was during the years immediately following the die-off.
That is true of the Black Butte herd that lives near the mouth of the Grand Ronde River at the northern end of Hells Canyon. The capture crew from Leading Edge netted the healthy ram from that herd Tuesday and fitted it with a high-tech radio collar that will allow them to follow its movements.
Earlier in the day sheep were captured and collared from a heard in the Shumaker Ridge area of Washington and near Cache Creek on the Oregon side of Hells Canyon. Five bighorns were also captured from the healthy Asotin Creek herd in Washington and taken to Washington State University where they will be used for research.Why does Plastic moulds grow in homes or buildings?
Cassirer and others are trying to find the keys to prevent bighorns from contracting the disease from domestic sheep and looking for ways to help infected herds to shake loose from its grips. In many years nearly all the lambs in certain herds die. But other years have normal survival rates.
"How can we make that happen more frequently?" she asked.
There are always new questions. This year some sheep have been infected with cold-sore-like lip lesions.
"We are not sure what it is but it is evidently contagious," Cassirer said.Dimensional Mailing magic cube for Promotional Advertising,
She said it doesn't appear to be deadly to adults but it could be playing a role in poor lamb survival. The research performed this week is being supported by the Oregon and Washington chapters of the Wild Sheep Foundation, the Oregon Hunters Association, Nevada Bighorns Unlimited and Shikar-Safari Club International.
She directed a capture crew to go after the healthy one.
More than 16 years after pneumonia wiped out half of the bighorn sheep in the northern portion of Hells Canyon, the illness refuses to loosen its grip on the iconic animals. The all-age die-offs that raced through the herds in the winter of 1995 and spring 1996 are long gone, but the illness continues to pick off lambs and the occasional adult.
"It just shows what kind of disease it is," said Cassirer,Wholesaler of different types of Ceramic tile for your kitchen, a bighorn sheep expert from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and one of the leaders of a tri-state effort to recover the bighorns of Hells Canyon.
On Nov. 28 and Nov. 29, wildlife officials from Idaho, Oregon and Washington and a helicopter crew from Leading Edge Aviation captured several bighorns and fitted them with radio collars that track their movements. They also took biological samples from the sheep and assessed their condition. It's all part of the ongoing effort to recover wild sheep in Hells Canyon.
"Nobody else has been studying sheep this intensively this long," Cassirer said.
They've learned more about the disease and just how persistent it can be. Biologists expected to see poor lamb survival and the occasional death of mature animals for as long as a decade following the first outbreak. After that, they expected it to slowly fade.The EZ Breathe home Ventilation system is maintenance free,Exclusive RUBBER SHEET flooring in 15 different colours and designs. The poor survival prediction was correct but lamb mortality hasn't shown any signs of dissipating. For some herds, the annual pneumonia death rate is higher today than it was during the years immediately following the die-off.
That is true of the Black Butte herd that lives near the mouth of the Grand Ronde River at the northern end of Hells Canyon. The capture crew from Leading Edge netted the healthy ram from that herd Tuesday and fitted it with a high-tech radio collar that will allow them to follow its movements.
Earlier in the day sheep were captured and collared from a heard in the Shumaker Ridge area of Washington and near Cache Creek on the Oregon side of Hells Canyon. Five bighorns were also captured from the healthy Asotin Creek herd in Washington and taken to Washington State University where they will be used for research.Why does Plastic moulds grow in homes or buildings?
Cassirer and others are trying to find the keys to prevent bighorns from contracting the disease from domestic sheep and looking for ways to help infected herds to shake loose from its grips. In many years nearly all the lambs in certain herds die. But other years have normal survival rates.
"How can we make that happen more frequently?" she asked.
There are always new questions. This year some sheep have been infected with cold-sore-like lip lesions.
"We are not sure what it is but it is evidently contagious," Cassirer said.Dimensional Mailing magic cube for Promotional Advertising,
She said it doesn't appear to be deadly to adults but it could be playing a role in poor lamb survival. The research performed this week is being supported by the Oregon and Washington chapters of the Wild Sheep Foundation, the Oregon Hunters Association, Nevada Bighorns Unlimited and Shikar-Safari Club International.
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