Recommendations for domestic sheep and goat management in wild sheep habitat

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Although the risk of disease transmission from domestic sheep or goats to wild sheep is widely recognized, a unified set of management recommendations for minimizing this risk has not been adopted by responsible agencies. These Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA) recommendations were produced to help state, provincial, and territorial wild sheep managers, federal/crown land management agencies, private landowners and others take appropriate steps to eliminate range overlap, and thereby, reduce opportunities for transmission of pathogens to wild sheep. Transmission of Mannheimia haemolytica from domestic sheep to bighorn sheep was irrefutably demonstrated by Lawrence et al. (2010) and provides justification sufficient for preventing range overlap and potential association of domestic sheep and goats with wild sheep. The higher the conservation value of a wild sheep population (e.g., federally or state listed, “sensitive species” status, native herds, transplant source stock, herds in areas with no history of domestic livestock presence), the more aggressive and comprehensive wild sheep and domestic sheep or goat separation management strategies should be. Practical solutions will be difficult, if not impossible to achieve until the risk of disease transmission from domestic sheep or goats to wild sheep is acknowledged by those responsible for wildlife and agricultural management. All parties benefit when risk is assessed and actively managed to minimize the potential for transmission of pathogens. The recommendations contained within this report are intended to help achieve that objective to benefit all sectors.

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ELECTRONIC FILE - Zoology: Mammals

Suggested Citation: Wild Sheep Working Group. 2012. Recommendations for Domestic Sheep
and Goat Management in Wild Sheep Habitat. Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies.

SWAP (2/19/2016) citation (with pub date changed to fit with doc and URL):
[WSWG] Wild Sheep Working Group. 2012. Recommendations for domestic sheep and goat management in wild sheep habitat. [place unknown]: Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. 20 p. [accessed 2015 Nov 18]. http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5385708.pdf