Bighorn sheep are majestic animals. The horned beasts are a coveted tag all over the world. Right now on Antelope Island, they are in trouble. Last year a survey counted 150 animals, this year 26 remain. A rare respiratory disease is wiping them out. Antelope Island in Utah is the perfect spot for bighorns, its isolated from everything. That isolation is what makes the sheep having the disease so much more of a mystery. The domestic sheep, a cousin to the bighorn, carry the disease and spreads it to bighorns, yet no domestic sheep are on the island. Utah Division of Wildlife resources is going to euthanize the remaining sheep to neutralize the disease. Then another sheep reintroduction on Antelope Island will take place.
Is this the right move by the Division in your opinion?
