Suspended UI prof repeats sheep claims in journal

BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- A University of Idaho professor suspended from sheep research duties since June has repeated claims that wild bighorns don't catch fatal diseases from domestic sheep, despite pledging not to disseminate information on the issue until the school completes an inquiry into her work.

An interview with Marie Bulgin, head of the UI's Caine Veterinary Teaching and Research Center in Caldwell, appeared in October's edition of The Shepherd: A Guide for Sheep and Farm Life, an industry journal based in Ohio.

Bulgin tells an interviewer, "It's the bighorns' own pathogens that are killing them -- not something they are picking up from domestic sheep or goats."

Wildlife advocates said her comments are virtually identical to those that helped lead to the UI inquiry.

Craig Gehrke, regional director of The Wilderness Society in Boise, says "It's inappropriate for her to be doing this, pending conclusion of this review by the University of Idaho."

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)