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It's taken 50 years, but wildlife managers have brought bighorn sheep back from extinction in Washington state.

Now, there are some 1200 bighorns.

But these iconic head-butting animals are in peril.

Bighorn sheep in southcentral Washington are dying from pneumonia.

And state wildlife officials may have to slaughter hundreds of them to save the greater population.

Anna King brings us the story.

How do you know a bighorn has pneumonia? The same way with humans, they cough. Wildlife biologists chase the animals for a short stretch with a helicopter over rugged and cliffy terrain and then stop and listen for coughing.

Jeff Bernatowicz, a Washington wildlife biologist from Yakama, shifts a bighorn sheep in the bed of his truck. He was about to transport three dead sheep to Washington State University's necropsy lab in Pullman for testing. State wildlife officials want to see how many herds of sheep are infected with pneumonia before they plan a strategy to try and save the population.

Jeff Bernatowicz waits in his truck a few miles from the town of Vantage. He goes by the handle "Bernie." He's in radio contact with his colleagues who are in a helicopter looking for sick bighorns. 

Bernie says it was some railroad workers, out in the backcountry, who first noticed the coughing. 

Jeff Bernatowicz: "It was pretty worrisome when they perfectly described pneumonia. For people who aren't biologists to talk about coughing sheep and a lamb being lethargic. And then coming back two days later and finding two dead sheep, yeah right then and there we pretty much knew what was going on."

Bernie is waiting for the helicopter to bring back some dead bighorns from the cliffs across the Columbia River. When he spots the helicopter he jumps out of the truck.

Bernie guides a huge yellow bag down from the sky. Gravel sprays from the wind of the blades. The helicopter drops the yellow bag into the bed of his pickup, then takes off.

Bernie moves quickly. He's anxious to get these three female sheep to a lab while they're fresh.

Jeff Bernatowicz: "Alright!"

Next stop: Washington State University's necropsy lab in Pullman. What they find there will make a big difference in what wildlife officials decide to do.

Right now they think the disease might be limited to one specific herd that lives between Yakima and Ellensburg.

What they don't want is a repeat of what happened in Hells Canyon in '95 and '96. A pneumonia outbreak there killed hundreds of animals young and old. Several herds nearly went extinct.

Even with steady help over the last 14 years, those herds are still recovering.

Three hours away in Pullman, WSU's necropsy lab looks like a combination between an operating room and a meat locker. Veterinarians listen to classical music as they get to work on the three female bighorns.

Flitting between corpses is the slim Frances Cassirer. She's in her 50s, but the Idaho wildlife biologist moves easy like a young girl.

A helicopter drops bighorn sheep into the back of a Washington state vehicle for transport to Washington State University's necropsy lab. There scientists will test the animal for pneumonia to see if other herds have been infected.

Cassirer has seen this before. She was there for the Hells Canyon die off. They captured a hundred bighorns to save them from pneumonia. But Cassirer watched them die off one by one.

Frances Cassirer: "We tried to do the best we could. Not only did the sheep that we captured die, most of them, but it spread up the river and even across the river. I don't think anyone felt very good about how it all ended up."

Since then Cassirer has helped to bring the bighorns back in Hells Canyon, but it hasn't been easy. She says even the survivors of the pneumonia still have problems. Their babies die off -- year after year.

Frances Cassirer: "I've seen a lot in the lambs. So they start out, they are born and they are totally cute. Of course. I shouldn't say this as a wildlife biologist but hey, they are cute. They are really energetic and they are racing around the hill. And then they start slowing down. And they start laying down a lot. They can't keep up with the group. And then they stop nursing and then their dam has to kind of kick them to get up to nurse because she's lactating and she wants them to nurse. And they don't really want to eat. And then they just die."

Anna King: "That's a hard picture."

Female bighorns rest in the bed of a Washington State Fish and Wildlife truck. The dead bighorns were transported to Washington State University's necropsy lab for testing to see if they have pneumonia.

Frances Cassirer: "It is. I guess it kinda keeps you going. It's an incentive to try and solve the problem."

But Cassirer and the other biologists working this case know they only have a few months to solve this problem. The bighorns likely caught the phenomena from domestic sheep.

In early spring, bighorn ewes move into rough country and mingle with other herds. That means the disease could spread rapidly across the region.

When the results come back on these killed bighorns, wildlife officials will decide whether to act, or let the disease play out.