NVBighorn
Long Time Member
- Messages
- 9,458
Good video on bighorn disease
- Thread starter NVBighorn
- Start date
littlebighorn
Long Time Member
- Messages
- 5,313
Great video NVB!
Well done and informative, especially for those who just don't understand what wild sheep are up against.
Well done and informative, especially for those who just don't understand what wild sheep are up against.
Good video NV. I was questioning why arent we testing and eliminating the carriers in domestic sheep before it was mentioned. Seems it wouldn't take long to eliminate the disease if that was the route taken. Testing bighorn and eliminating the carriers seems futile. So does separation. I assume it comes at the cost of production. As a hunter and consumer, paying more for a lamb chop dinner the few times a year I eat it would be a small price to pay for bighorns no longer being at risk of pneumonia.
#livelikezac
#livelikezac
NVBighorn
Long Time Member
- Messages
- 9,458
I agree that making domestics disease free would be the ideal. There are 5.2 million domestic sheep in the US. I'm guessing there has to be at least 2 million in the western states and Canada where bighorns occur. Problem is nobody knows how many of them are carriers. It could be literally millions. Or it could be less. But you'd have to test them all. And if you test and they are positive who compensates the sheep owner for his losses? What incentive do domestic sheep producers have to test? It's an expensive and complex issue.
Another method being used is retiring of domestic sheep permits. Willing operators are compensated to basically go out of the sheep business. That's expensive. It works but it takes time. And it's not only large outside range sheep operations who can spread the disease. Small farm flocks in proximity to bighorns can also be a problem when bighorn rams go on a walk about. That's a big source of interaction in some places.
You are correct in saying that separation doesn't always work. It helps but is no guarantee.
I have seen several populations of desert bighorn that remain stagnant after a die off. Even when the result is not an all age die off it will still take out the lambs each year. Eventually you have entire age classes missing in the adults. Other times a die off can be relatively short term. Evidence exists that those carriers can sit there brewing for years until you have some stress factor like drought or high populations that triggers it again.
There is still a lot scientists dont have all the answers for. I hope a solution is found soon.
Another method being used is retiring of domestic sheep permits. Willing operators are compensated to basically go out of the sheep business. That's expensive. It works but it takes time. And it's not only large outside range sheep operations who can spread the disease. Small farm flocks in proximity to bighorns can also be a problem when bighorn rams go on a walk about. That's a big source of interaction in some places.
You are correct in saying that separation doesn't always work. It helps but is no guarantee.
I have seen several populations of desert bighorn that remain stagnant after a die off. Even when the result is not an all age die off it will still take out the lambs each year. Eventually you have entire age classes missing in the adults. Other times a die off can be relatively short term. Evidence exists that those carriers can sit there brewing for years until you have some stress factor like drought or high populations that triggers it again.
There is still a lot scientists dont have all the answers for. I hope a solution is found soon.
