Bighorn Sheep

(Runtime 3:57)It’s about 8 a.m. on a bitingly cold December morning on the Idaho side of Hells Canyon. Wildlife biologists are pulling medical gear from…

Bighorn sheep are highly susceptible to a pathogen they can catch from domestic sheep. (Credit: Kim Keating / USGS)

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Pneumonia sickens, kills Hells Canyon bighorn sheep

(Runtime 1:07)Bighorn sheep in Hells Canyon are turning up sick with pneumonia after more than five years without an outbreak of the potentially fatal…

Several brown sheep with curly brown horns stand on a snowy hillside. In the background, there are snowy mountains and a blue sky.

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To protect bighorns, officials review grazing allotments in a central WA national forest

(Runtime 1:00)Bighorn sheep and domestic sheep love to hang out and get nose-to-nose with each other. That’s a problem.Domestic sheep can carry a pathogen…

Just outside of Yellowstone National Park a bighorn sheep walks through the snow after nibbling salt from the highway. CREDIT: CLAIRE HARBAGE/NPR

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Northwest Bighorn Sheep Could Be In Big Danger — From Close Contact And Respiratory Infection

Bighorn sheep in central Washington could be in danger if domestic sheep continue to graze nearby. That’s the concern from two groups suing the U.S. Forest Service. Domestic sheep or goats can pass a deadly bacteria to bighorns.

Billy Schoenbachler and Justin Lange are helping raise domesticated sheep at the Washington State Penitentiary. The program will eventually help protect bighorn sheep by providing ranchers with domesticated sheep that don't have pathogens that infect the wild animals. CREDIT: COURTNEY FLATT

Local News

Prison Could Be The Best Thing To Happen To Bighorn Sheep

Growing up, Gary Kempler remembers watching flocks of bighorn sheep near his hometown of Clarkston, Washington.Now, as someone who is incarcerated at Washington State Penitentiary, Kempler is in the Sustainability in Prisons Project. He’s working to help bighorns — through domestic sheep production.