Pack Goat Closure extending to Oregon

[igoat]

As I have been reading through the pertinent parts of the Blue Mountains Draft LMP on the FS website, I am reminded of a question that has been lingering in my mind. There is (apparently) some story or evidence relating to the Hells Canyon BHS dieoffs years ago, that connected a feral goat to the disease transfer. Sometimes when I read about it, it mentions the circumstance as being solidly backed by evidence, and other times it appears to have been purely circumstantial evidence that connected the goat to the die offs. Does anyone know the source of these stories, and the real truth of the matter?

igoat, a couple of years ago I called Dr. Glen Weiser of the Cain Vet Center, and he sent me three scientific peer-reviewed papers authored by Dr. Rudolph concerning the hells Canyon die-off. They can be found if you do a google search on the Journal of Wildlife Diseases website. I will look a little later and reference them. In the three papers, Dr. Rudolph explains that the biovariant 1 and ToxA + organisms were limited to the three animals shot on 29 November 1995 and WERE NOT ISOLATED from ANY of the other Bighorn Sheep in Groups A and B. The BHS identified in Group A either had signs of respiratory disease or were dead, and were within a radius of 30 km from where the feral goat was shot. The Group B BHS consisted of 72 BHS located north of the Grande Ronde River and west of the Snake River.

So as I read it, and as Dr. Weiser explained to me, there is no evidence that the feral goat caused the catastrophic die-offs in Hells Canyon. The BHS possessed organisms of a completely different Biovariant type of organism than the feral goat.

But there are papers out there that accuse goats as being the culprit. This leads me to believe that the authors of these papers are banking on the fact that most folks won't immerse themselves in to the scientific papers, but will take their word for it.

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http://www.jwildlifedis.org/doi/pdf/10.7...8-39.4.897
Read page 901 first column 2nd paragraph.

http://www.bighornsheep.org/article_USAH...091109.pdf
Read page 5. Talks about management of brush goats and packgoats.

Well, I hope that you let Mr. Irvine know, because the Blue Mountains DEIS specifically references the Hells Canyon incident and the feral goat. So when you make comments to the DEIS and Draft LMP, make sure you document the articles you presented so that they can see that the science they are basing their actions on is not resolved.

See below the quote from the Blue Mountains DEIS

"Bighorn Sheep Attraction and Disease Transmission – Bighorn sheep are attracted to domestic sheep and goats (Onderka et al. 1988, Schommer and Woolever 2001), and, although the mechanisms of respiratory disease in bighorn sheep are not well understood, the evidence that
contact between domestic sheep and bighorn sheep leads to respiratory disease and die-offs in bighorn sheep is overwhelming (Clifford et al. 2009, Foreyt et al. 1994, Silflow et al. 1993). More than 327 bighorn sheep in a 30 square mile area in Hells Canyon died when exposed to
Pasteurella multocida and Mannheimia haemolytica that was most likely carried by a feral goat (Cassirer et al. 1998, Onderka et al. 1988, Schommer and Woolever 2001). Both P. multocida and M. haemolytica were isolated from this feral goat and a bighorn sheep found in close proximity to where the Hells Canyon (1995 and 1996) bighorn sheep pneumonia epizootic began (Cassirer et al. 1998, Dassanayake et al. 2008, Weiser et al. 2003). Several authors (Dassanayake et al. 2008,
Silflow et al. 1993, Srikumaran et al. 2008, Weiser et al. 2003) have demonstrated that bighorn sheep are highly susceptible to P. multocida and M. haemolytica strains found in domestic sheep and goats.
As a result of die-offs and suppressed reproduction during the last century, the genetic diversity in bighorn sheep herds has been lost (Schommer and Woolever 2001). At the present time there are
no vaccines to protect bighorn sheep from developing pneumonia (Clifford et al. 2009, Schommer and Woolever 2001, Srikumaran et al. 2007, Weiser et al. 2003). The only way to prevent a pneumonia outbreak in bighorn sheep herds is to keep bighorn sheep separated spatially from domestic sheep and goats (Clifford et al. 2009, Dassanayake et al. 2008, Onderka et al. 1988, Schommer and Woolever 2001)." Blue Mountains DEIS Volume 2, pg. 236

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As I have been reading through the pertinent parts of the Blue Mountains Draft LMP on the FS website, I am reminded of a question that has been lingering in my mind. There is (apparently) some story or evidence relating to the Hells Canyon BHS dieoffs years ago, that connected a feral goat to the disease transfer. Sometimes when I read about it, it mentions the circumstance as being solidly backed by evidence, and other times it appears to have been purely circumstantial evidence that connected the goat to the die offs. Does anyone know the source of these stories, and the real truth of the matter?

igoat, a couple of years ago I called Dr. Glen Weiser of the Cain Vet Center, and he sent me three scientific peer-reviewed papers authored by Dr. Rudolph concerning the hells Canyon die-off. They can be found if you do a google search on the Journal of Wildlife Diseases website. I will look a little later and reference them. In the three papers, Dr. Rudolph explains that the biovariant 1 and ToxA + organisms were limited to the three animals shot on 29 November 1995 and WERE NOT ISOLATED from ANY of the other Bighorn Sheep in Groups A and B. The BHS identified in Group A either had signs of respiratory disease or were dead, and were within a radius of 30 km from where the feral goat was shot. The Group B BHS consisted of 72 BHS located north of the Grande Ronde River and west of the Snake River.

So as I read it, and as Dr. Weiser explained to me, there is no evidence that the feral goat caused the catastrophic die-offs in Hells Canyon. The BHS possessed organisms of a completely different Biovariant type of organism than the feral goat.

But there are papers out there that accuse goats as being the culprit. This leads me to believe that the authors of these papers are banking on the fact that most folks won't immerse themselves in to the scientific papers, but will take their word for it.

---

http://www.jwildlifedis.org/doi/pdf/10.7...8-39.4.897
Read page 901 first column 2nd paragraph.

http://www.bighornsheep.org/article_USAH...091109.pdf
Read page 5. Talks about management of brush goats and packgoats.

Well, I hope that you let Mr. Irvine know, because the Blue Mountains DEIS specifically references the Hells Canyon incident and the feral goat. So when you make comments to the DEIS and Draft LMP, make sure you document the articles you presented so that they can see that the science they are basing their actions on is not resolved.

See below the quote from the Blue Mountains DEIS

"Bighorn Sheep Attraction and Disease Transmission – Bighorn sheep are attracted to domestic sheep and goats (Onderka et al. 1988, Schommer and Woolever 2001), and, although the mechanisms of respiratory disease in bighorn sheep are not well understood, the evidence that
contact between domestic sheep and bighorn sheep leads to respiratory disease and die-offs in bighorn sheep is overwhelming (Clifford et al. 2009, Foreyt et al. 1994, Silflow et al. 1993). More than 327 bighorn sheep in a 30 square mile area in Hells Canyon died when exposed to
Pasteurella multocida and Mannheimia haemolytica that was most likely carried by a feral goat (Cassirer et al. 1998, Onderka et al. 1988, Schommer and Woolever 2001). Both P. multocida and M. haemolytica were isolated from this feral goat and a bighorn sheep found in close proximity to where the Hells Canyon (1995 and 1996) bighorn sheep pneumonia epizootic began (Cassirer et al. 1998, Dassanayake et al. 2008, Weiser et al. 2003). Several authors (Dassanayake et al. 2008,
Silflow et al. 1993, Srikumaran et al. 2008, Weiser et al. 2003) have demonstrated that bighorn sheep are highly susceptible to P. multocida and M. haemolytica strains found in domestic sheep and goats.
As a result of die-offs and suppressed reproduction during the last century, the genetic diversity in bighorn sheep herds has been lost (Schommer and Woolever 2001). At the present time there are
no vaccines to protect bighorn sheep from developing pneumonia (Clifford et al. 2009, Schommer and Woolever 2001, Srikumaran et al. 2007, Weiser et al. 2003). The only way to prevent a pneumonia outbreak in bighorn sheep herds is to keep bighorn sheep separated spatially from domestic sheep and goats (Clifford et al. 2009, Dassanayake et al. 2008, Onderka et al. 1988, Schommer and Woolever 2001)." Blue Mountains DEIS Volume 2, pg. 236

Also, I think that the pertinent part of those articles you cited is such could be included here, so that other readers can benefit;

"Although we know of no other information regarding transfer of potentially lethal Pasteurella spp. between domestic goats and free ranging bighorn sheep, we believe that goats can serve as a reservoir. Thus, interactions between the two species should be avoided to prevent Pasteurella transmission that could negatively impact the health of bighorn sheep populations. Pack goats have gained popularity for use on public and private lands. We recommend that individuals with pack goats have total control of their animals when in or near bighorn sheep habitat, both while on the trail and at the campsite. Likewise, we recommend that any bighorn sheep should be driven away from goats to prevent nose-to-nose contact and that any bighorn sheep that does come into direct contact should be removed from the herd to prevent potential transmission of disease causing organisms to other bighorn sheep." Pg 901, JOURNAL OF WILDLIFE DISEASES, VOL. 39, NO. 4, OCTOBER 2003

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I do appreciate that the author did not suggest that packgoats should be banned from the forest, but rather offered mitigating options that would reduce the risk of contact.