Pneumonia found in bighorn sheep in Montana Nine bighorn sheep that were recently introduced into the Little Belt Mountains of Montana have died from pneumonia. Several other sheep within the same herd group have also been demonstrating symptoms of respiratory disease. Bighorn sheep were common in the Little Belt Mountain Range before they were largely extirpated from the mountain range by the early 1900s. Montana Fish Wildlife & Parks and several partner organizations worked to translocate wild sheep to this area in 2020 and 2021 by capturing 83 bighorn sheep in the upper Missouri River Breaks and releasing them into the eastern Little Belts. All of the translocated sheep were fitted with GPS collars before release. Pneumonia in bighorn sheep is often extremely fatal and can severely affect lamb survival in problematic areas. Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae, which is a bacteria that can be carried by wild and domestic sheep, is believed to be the primary agent associated with outbreaks of
Post: 15 May 14:59
