BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The state Game and Fish Department says at least 20 bighorn sheep died from pneumonia last month in western North Dakota's badlands.

The Bismarck Tribune reports 14 of the bighorns found dead were among a group of two dozen animals that had been transplanted from Canada in February.

Biologist Brett Wiedmann says tests show the bighorns got pneumonia from contact with domestic sheep.

North Dakota has about 350 bighorn sheep located mostly in the badlands.

Bighorn sheep are native to the state, but they were wiped out by 1905 because of over-hunting and disease. Biologists say the animals were reintroduced in North Dakota in 1956.

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