British Columbia’s wild sheep are going to die at an “alarming rate” if government does not intervene in the animals' “own pandemic,” a non-profit has warned.
The Wild Sheep Society of BC (WSSBC) said bighorn sheep in the province have been suffering from mycoplasma ovipneumoniae.
It typically causes pneumonia outbreaks among the animals – in a “nightmarish parallel to COVID-19,” the charity said.
WSSBC said that two lambs in the Vaseux bighorn sheep herd, which is just outside Penticton, now have the disease.
The non-profit first heard reports of symptoms in the herd in mid-July.
“Wild sheep do not know the meaning of social distancing,” said Chris Barker, project chair at WSSBC.
“Until strict and drastic measures are put in place to ensure separation, we are going to continue to lose wild sheep to their own pandemic at an alarming rate.”
The Chasm herd has already lost up to 80% of its population due to the disease, WSSBC said.
It took only two years.
WSSBC said that unless “immediate action” is taken, the “unfortunate and eventual extinction” of the species will be the result.
