PHOENIX — Wildlife officials say bighorn sheep in the Black Mountains in northwest Arizona are afflicted with a respiratory disease.
The Arizona Game and Fish Department said Thursday that tests of tissue samples from three ewes confirm the animals have a strain of pneumonia bacteria.
The agency says hunters last month noticed bighorn sheep that were coughing or putting out a nasal discharge.
The department conducted a spot survey on Dec. 9.
Most sheep appeared in good condition. There were no deceased sheep.
They say the bacteria found are the same bacteria behind a 2013 outbreak of pneumonia among bighorn sheep in 2013 in the Mojave National Preserve in California.
Officials say they will continue to monitor the sheep population in the Black Mountains.
