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Wildlife experts ponder peril of diseases devastating Okanagan bighorn sheep

Symposium in Penticton to explore conservation options amidst sharp decline in keynote species
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Bighorn sheep wandering across Westside Road. (File photo)

Some of the smartest wildlife biology minds will gather in Penticton this week to better address the sharpening decline of bighorn sheep in recent years.

That decline is caused by the outbreak of mycoplasma ovipneumoniae, a bacteria with no known cure that contributes to harmful pneumonia in sheep and goats, and sporophytes, mites which get into the ears and under the skin of wild sheep causing them to be disoriented and more prone to falling prey to predators.

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Barry Gerding

About the Author: Barry Gerding

Senior regional reporter for Black Press Media in the Okanagan. I have been a journalist in the B.C. community newspaper field for 37 years...
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