From the Associated Press January 12, 2015-
Montana wildlife officials are considering a plan to kill a herd of 50 bighorn sheep whose reproduction has been stunted by a 1997 pneumonia outbreak. They would then transplant healthy sheep into the area west of Lima along the Idaho border.
The Fish and Wildlife Commission will meet via video conference on Thursday to discuss possible ways to deal with the bighorn herd in the Tendoy Mountains, The Billings Gazette (http://bit.ly/1xhS7Tv ) reports. The Montana Wild Sheep Foundation supports the plan said Jim Weatherly, the group's executive director, after hearing that Utah and Nevada had undertaken similar efforts.
Wildlife management section chief John Vore said an environmental assessment and public comment would precede any action.
The Tendoy herd was transplanted into the mountain range in 1985 from a herd near Deer Lodge. The bighorn herd grew to about 150 animals before the 1997 pneumonia outbreak.
Getting rid of the remaining members of the Tendoy herd and bringing in new sheep might be a better choice than continuing to try and supplement a dying herd with more transplanted sheep, Vore said. The herd produces only one to three lambs per year.
Fish and Wildlife Commissioners are being asked to consider ways hunters could help remove the sheep, from creating an over-the-counter tag for the hunting district that includes the Tendoy herd or re-drawing the district to exclude another herd that lives mainly in Idaho but migrates into Montana. Those sheep are not infected.
It also wants to put into place an option to capture some sheep for donation to a research facility studying pneumonia outbreaks in sheep. However, no facility has been found. Vore said it would take about two years for hunters to remove all the sheep from the area.
The state would seek to transplant bighorn sheep from herds that have a history of migrating from high elevations in the winter. The goal is to have a herd of about 125 sheep in the Tendoy Mountains, Vore said.
Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2015/01/12/4471153/fwp-considers-eliminating-diseased.html#storylink=cpy
Utah transplanted some sheep not too far south of Salt Lake City, in Utah county. They did very well for a few years but came down into a couple communities and mixed with some domestic sheep. And as many of you know, wild sheep and domestic sheep don't mix well and in many instances the wild sheep die off.
Well that is what happened to the herd I just mentioned. And during one of the last winters, when most of the sheep were still around, I would hike up and take some photos of them. (I am sure that surprises some of you. Ha Ha) Anyway I hiked close to this nice ram and took his photo. It was then I noticed his nose and draw your attention to it. It was his last year on the mountain.
Anyway its a sad deal and its tough to keep healthy sheep herds if domestic sheep are anywhere in the area.
Have a great bow hunt. BB
Kyle or Jim in PA or whoever else, can you help w/ this issue?
The wealthy guys wont buy these tags. This unit doesnt produce big rams. Id be suprised if theres a 170+ ram in the unit.
There may be certain circumstances where it's just not a good place to have wild sheep due to domestic sheep and none of us wants to hear or admit that.
There may be instances where we could limit or get rid of the domestic sheep, but if that's not possible, it might just not be a good place for wild sheep to exist.
If we have to cull a herd and replace it every 20-30 yrs, then that sorta takes the essence out of why "wild sheep" are so special in the first place. And a lot of why they're so special is because of where they live.
