Joshua Tree National Park rangers are closely watching the bighorn sheep in the park after a lamb died from pneumonia in August. Park spokesman George Land said the first report of a sick and coughing bighorn sheep was reported in early May, and the sick lamb, who died shortly after being found in the Hall of Horrors, died in mid-August. A necropsy confirmed the lamb was infected with pneumonia, which has a 50 to 90 percent mortality rate. There is no vaccine and no cure. Bighorn sheep contract pneumonia from contact with domestic sheep and goats, which carry the disease. Land said there are homesteads bordering the park which have sheep or goats; residents are cautioned not to release domestic animals into the wild. A pneumonia outbreak in bighorn sheep can cause a long-term decline in the population that can last more than a decade. Land said the 200 to 300 sheep in Joshua Tree National Park are in several herds which mix and mingle. He added that as far as park officials know, only one sheep has died from pneumonia. Park officials are part of an inter-agency task force to monitor outbreaks, suggest best practices for limiting the range and effects of the disease, and provide recommendations on how to manage the outbreak.
