Abstract
During a routine telemetry flight of the Mojave Desert (California, USA) in August 1995, mortality signals were detected from two of 12 radio-collared female desert bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) in the vicinity of Old Dad Peak in San Bernardino County (California). A series of field investigations determined that at least 45 bighorn sheep had died near two artificial water catchments (guzzlers), including 13 bighorn sheep which had presumably drowned in a guzzler tank. Samples from water contaminated by decomposing bighorn sheep carcasses and hemolyzed blood from a fresh bighorn sheep carcass were tested for the presence of pesticides, heavy metals, strychnine, blue-green algae, Clostridium botulinum toxin, ethylene glycol, nitrates, nitrites, sodium, and salts. Mouse bioassay and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay detected type C botulinum toxin in the hemolyzed blood and in fly larvae and pupae. This, coupled with negative results from other analyses, led us to conclude that type C botulinum poisoning was most likely responsible for the mortality of bighorn sheep outside the guzzler tank.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 184-189 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Journal of wildlife diseases |
Volume | 36 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 2000 |
Keywords
- Bighorn sheep
- Botulinum toxin
- Clostridium botulinum type C
- Mortality event
- Ovis canadensis