Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Natural Resources Management and Policy
Badlands National Park Bighorn Sheep Disease Population Genetics Survival
Articles 1 - 1 of 1
Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
An Evaluation Of The Bighorn Sheep Population In Badlands National Park, Austin J. Wieseler
An Evaluation Of The Bighorn Sheep Population In Badlands National Park, Austin J. Wieseler
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Within the last century, bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) in the badlands ecosystem of western South Dakota have been subjected to complete extirpation, reintroduction, disease die-offs, genetic bottlenecking, and population augmentation. Subsequently, the population in Badlands National Park (BNP) appears to have recovered, but it was unknown to what degree past events had influenced the population. From 2017-2019, we conducted research on 5 subherds within 2 management units in BNP to 1) survey for the presence of respiratory pathogens and estimate the prevalence of other potentially infectious diseases; 2) assess adult and lamb survival and cause-specific mortality; 3) estimate population size …