LINCOLN, Neb. -- At their August 31 meeting, Nebraska Game and Parks Commissioners decided there will be no 2006 Nebraska bighorn sheep hunting season due to the loss of several lambs and adult sheep from the Fort Robinson herd in since August of 2004.

Jim Douglas, administrator of the Commissions Wildlife Division, told the commissioners that in August and September of 2004 several lambs died and were found to have contagious ecthyma also known as “sore mouth,” a disease that had been observed in a few lambs in previous years, but which was not known to cause death. Biologists estimate that a majority of the lambs may have died from the 2004 population.

The carcasses of 13 adult sheep – seven ewes and six rams – were also found at Fort Robinson. The sheep appeared to have died in mid-to late January 2005. Although the presumed cause of death was pneumonia, the actual cause is unknown.

Of the six dead rams, three had full-curl horns, one had 3/4-curl horns, and two had ½ -curl horns.

The current Fort Robinson population is estimated at 65 sheep, with 14 rams verified as of August 26. Five of these rams have full-curl horns.

“With the 2005 season set to remove two additional mature rams, it is likely we will have three surviving full-curl rams,” Douglas said. “While there are several 3/4-curl rams that will continue to mature, there is the possibility of additional disease during the upcoming winter. It may take several more years for our ram population to reach the level we were at in 2004.”

The Wildcat Hills bighorn population is estimated at 64 sheep – 15 lambs, 11 yearlings, 19 ewes and 19 rams. These sheep have not suffered any known disease losses in the past year and have also had good lamb survival. The oldest rams are now five years old, there is one full-curl ram, eight 3/4-curl rams, five ½-curl rams and five 1/4-curl rams.

Last January 49 bighorns from Montana were released on the Bighorn Wildlife Management Area southeast of Crawford. That population now consists of 34 adult ewes, three one-year-old ewes, three two-year-old rams and 17 lambs. During the past seven months, eight ewes and one yearling male have died of various causes.

Douglas said the Commissions objective is to maintain at least six full-curl rams in the Pine Ridge and attain bighorn populations of 150 in the Pine Ridge and at least 50 in the Wildcat Hills, with 10 or more full-curl rams by the year 2008. Therefore, no sheep season was recommended for 2006.

Douglas said there is a probability that some of the remaining full-curl rams may move east of the current boundary, which is Nebraska Highway 2, during the December 2005 sheep hunting season. With that in mind, the Commissioners approved a recommendation that the unit boundary be moved east to Nebraska Highway 87 to increase the likelihood of hunter success.

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