Oregon’s Interstate 84 sheep herd thinned

THE DALLES, Ore. — Twenty-six animals from Oregon’s Interstate 84 bighorn sheep herd have been captured and relocated to the Diablo Mountain and Coglan Buttes herds in Lake County.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife annually captures and thins too-large herds and supplements herds that need more numbers and genetic diversity.

A helicopter was used to locate the sheep and then they were captured using a net fired from a specially designed gun. Once captured, the sheep are blindfolded and restrained to calm them, then hoisted by air to a central location.

Veterinarians and biologists test each animal for disease and fit many with GPS transmitters so their movements can be tracked.

Seven Rocky Mountain sheep in the the Lookout Mountain unit were captured and transported to Washington as part of the Hells Canyon Initiative, a joint effort by state and federal agencies plus sportsmen to restore sheep in that area.

Officials have moved to southeast Oregon to capture nearly 60 sheep in the Whitehorse unit to test for disease and place collars. The department will step up surveys and disease sampling in the state’s southeast corner.

A strain of pneumonia from a previous outbreak in Nevada is affecting wild sheep in the Whitehorse unit.