Survival of Translocated Bighorn Sheep In the Deadwood Region of the Black Hills, South Dakota

Werdel, Ty J.; Jenks, Jonathan A.; Besser, Thomas E.; Kanta, John T.; Lehman, Chadwick P.; Frink, Teresa J.

doi:10.1898/nwn18-06.1

Cited by 5 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 24 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Our prior study documented 19 mortalities (7 of 26 translocated bighorn sheep survived the study period), 57.9% ( n = 11) were pneumonia related, within the translocated Deadwood bighorn sheep herd between February 2015 and January 2017 (Werdel et al ). The only adult ram was euthanized due to presumed contact with domestic sheep; however, the ram displayed no signs of poor condition, and post‐mortem analyses revealed that it was PCR and cELISA negative for M. ovipneumoniae (Table S1).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…We euthanized three bighorn sheep ewes that displayed pneumonic symptoms, and post‐mortem investigations confirmed M. ovipneumoniae (PCR positive; cELISA positive = 1; Table S1). The 11 M. ovipneumoniae –positive bighorn sheep mortalities displayed varying stages of consolidated lung tissue (lungs fused to chest cavity) and infection (lesions exhibiting discolored discharge) during necropsy (Werdel et al ). M. ovipneumoniae detected in mortality samples of the translocated Deadwood bighorn sheep herd was strain typed ( n = 3) and an identical, single strain was detected.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…All individuals were relocated using a hand‐held directional antenna (Model RA‐23K, Telonics, Inc., Mesa, AZ, U.S.A.) and portable receiver (Model TR‐2, Telonics, Inc.). Mortality events were located within 12 hours of receiving mortality signals from collars; however, if decayed or significantly scavenged, we did not collect samples and we recorded the mortality cause as unknown (5.26% [1/19] of mortality events; Werdel et al ). We transported recovered bighorn sheep carcasses to the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks (SDGFP) laboratory in Rapid City, South Dakota, and performed a necropsy to determine mortality cause.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since the 1950s, there have been >1,000 attempts to reintroduce bighorn sheep populations back to their historic range that have resulted in varying levels of success (Berger ; Singer et al ; Hedrick ; Parr ; WAFWA ; Werdel et al ). Reintroductions are generally focused in areas where bighorn sheep have been extirpated or where remnant populations require enhanced abundances or increases in genetic diversity to remain viable (Buechner ; Zimmerman ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Restoration of a bighorn sheep population impeded by Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae exposure

Werdel

Jenks

Besser

et al. 2019

Restoration Ecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) were once extirpated from the Black Hills region of South Dakota, U.S.A., mirroring declining populations throughout North America. Since the 1960s, several reintroductions have occurred in the Black Hills to reestablish populations, with varying success. We translocated 26 bighorn sheep from Alberta, Canada, to the Black Hills (February 2015) to restore bighorn sheep to their historic range. Due to prior examinations of cause‐specific survival, subsequent genetic diversity and disease prevalence analyses were required to evaluate success of the restoration effort. We measured a mean allelic diversity of 5.23 (SE = 0.44 [mean number of alleles]) and an observed heterozygosity of 0.71 (SE = 0.06; expected = 0.64 ± 0.05) in the translocated individuals. Translocated bighorn sheep tested negative for Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae at capture. An autogenous vaccine was administered prior to release in an attempt to safeguard the translocated bighorn sheep from infection with a strain known to be resident in adjacent bighorn sheep populations. However, the year following the translocation, a different strain of M. ovipneumoniae was associated with a pneumonia outbreak that resulted in 57.9% mortality. Our results suggest that allelic diversity and heterozygosity were sufficient for long‐term herd establishment, reducing the potential for founder effects. However, the overwhelming mortality associated with pneumonia, via the transfer of M. ovipneumoniae from an unknown source, limited the success or our reintroduction efforts. Successful attempts to restore bighorn sheep to their historic ranges must consider and mitigate potential routes for M. ovipneumoniae transmission pre‐ and post‐reintroduction.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Restoration of a bighorn sheep population impeded by Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae exposure

Werdel

Jenks

Besser

et al. 2019

Restoration Ecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Regardless of management goals, practitioners should rigorously evaluate post‐translocation metrics (e.g. survival, space use) to assess the effectiveness of their efforts (Jachowski et al 2016, Lehrer et al 2016, Werdel et al 2018, Berger‐Tal et al 2019).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%