A pneumonia-like disease that once raced through several Hells Canyon bighorn sheep herds is resurfacing, foiling efforts of wildlife managers to restore the sheep.

A decade ago as many as 300 sheep were killed by the bacterial disease, pasteurella. It first swept through Hells Canyon bighorn sheep herds in 1995, killing sheep on the western side of the canyon from the Grand Ronde River to the Imnaha River. Now herds that had no exposure to the 1995 outbreak are becoming sick.

Biologists from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife suspect domestic goats grazing near the rim of the canyon have infected the Big Canyon herd that roams just north of Pittsburg Landing on the Idaho side of the river.

Frances Cassirer, a wildlife biologist for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game at Lewiston, directs efforts to restore the sheep to Hells Canyon. She and her partner, Vic Coggins of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife at Enterprise, worry this latest outbreak will spread to other healthy herds in Hells Canyon.

The biologists say circumstantial evidence points to the disease being transmitted by domestic goats that are used to fight noxious weeds on the canyon rim.

A goat herd as large as 4,000 has grazed a private ranch on the benches above Big Canyon three out of the past four years, and the goats appearance coincides with drops in herd numbers.

The goat owner, Ray Holes of White Bird, said the biologist's accusation was made out of convenience. He knows his goats carry pasteurella, the bacteria causing the illness, but said the goats and sheep have not had contact close enough to exchange diseases.

"It was an easy thing for them to point to (me). There were goats and bighorns on the same side of the river and, by air miles, not very far apart.

"It's an assumption that would make sense, but as far as we know there has never been any contact."

He said herders and guard dogs deter wild animals.

The animals must be close enough to touch noses or exchange mucus through sneezing and coughing to transfer the disease.

Cassirer and Coggins want to keep goats away from wild sheep herds in Hells Canyon and canyons of southeastern Washington and northeastern Oregon.

"I think most of the land management agencies are on board with that," Cassirer said. "But obviously not all the private landowners are. It would be nice to get the word out for people who are concerned about bighorn sheep to try different (weed control) methods."

Coggins proposes moving the goats away from the canyon's rim to remove them from the area the sheep herd grazes.

Holes said the demand for him to relocate is unfair. He said the sheep's propensity to roam would continue to push him further away, and he contends sheep would become ill even if his goats were moved.

Source: The Associated Press
April 12, 2004