The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) announced it would begin two rounds of aerial bighorn sheep captures of the Yakima Canyon herd to control Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae (Movi) disease.
Movi is a bacterial pathogen transmitting pneumonia from domestic sheep to bighorn sheep, affecting lamb survival. The goal is to test and collar as many of the herd’s 100 adult sheep as possible to understand the prevalence of asymptomatic carriers better.
“The upcoming management trial is an experiment many years in the making,” said Mike Livingston, WDFW Region 3 director. “We’re trying a ‘test and remove’ process that has been successful in other Western states but is still fairly new in Washington. We’re working closely with partners in Idaho, Oregon, and the Wild Sheep Foundation to learn from this situation and if the approach could help clear pneumonia from other herds.”
