Shared Bacterial and Viral Respiratory Agents in Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis), Domestic Sheep (Ovis aries), and Goats (Capra hircus) in Montana

Table 1

Characteristics of bighorn sheep and domestic sheep populations studied, based on proximity to the bighorn/domestic sheep interface.

		Bighorn sheep^1		Domestic goats^2	Domestic sheep^2
		Isolated populations^3	Interface populations^3	Interface populations^3	Interface populations^3	Isolated populations^3
	No. of populations:	7	3	1	6	6
Population size	Median	313	175	925^4	105^4	510^4
	Min.–max.	35–750	70–350	—	25–1780	30–4000
Population density (No./km)	Min.–max.	0.3–1.9	0.3–0.7	—	—	—
No. of animals sampled	Total	234	106	45	152	219
	Min.–max per population	6–81	26–49	—	19–70	20–70
Land occupied-	Public^5	7	3^6	0	0	2
winter	Private	0	0^6	1	6	4
Land occupied-	Public^5	7	3^6	0^7	1^7	3
summer	Private	0	0^6	1^7	6^7	3

¹Data based on 2003 annual aerial census by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
²Data from questionnaire.
³Based on 14.5 km barrier recommended for land management [25]; interface ≤14.5 km, relative to sympatric species, and isolated >14.5 km, relative to sympatric species (or surrounded by development that prevents interactions with sympatric species).
⁴Number of females in population.
⁵Public land: federal and state lands.
⁶One population 50% federal and 50% private land.
⁷One population 10% on public land.