Outcomes of Selective Removals for Control of Pneumonia in a Bighorn Sheep Metapopulation

• Published in: Ecology and evolution Vol. 15; no. 5; pp. e70869 - n/a
• Main Authors: Cassirer, E. Frances, Besser, Thomas E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.05.2025; John Wiley and Sons Inc; Wiley
• Subjects: Animal populations; Animals; Antibodies; Canyons; Conservation Ecology; culling; Disease Ecology; disease persistence; Epidemics; Females; Hypotheses; Hypothesis testing; immunity; Infections; juvenile survival; Males; metapopulation; Metapopulations; Mortality; Ovis canadensis; Pathogens; Pneumonia; Population control; Population decline; Population Ecology; Population growth; Population studies; Recruitment; Respiratory diseases; Sheep; wild sheep; wildlife disease; Oregon; United States > US; Idaho; wildlife disease; culling; wild sheep; metapopulation; juvenile survival; disease persistence; immunity

ABSTRACT Pneumonia is a pervasive, population‐limiting disease of bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) with limited options for management. We conducted a selective removal experiment in two regions (north and south) of the Hells Canyon bighorn sheep metapopulation to test the hypothesis that pneumonia i...