The British Columbia government has updated its regulations to grant wildlife officers enhanced authority to eliminate escaped or deserted domestic sheep to safeguard wild sheep populations. According to a government announcement, the classification of domestic sheep under the Wildlife Act has been revised to prevent the transmission of diseases that could result in widespread deaths among wild herds. While domestic and wild sheep can both contract similar infectious agents, their immune responses and disease resistance vary.
One particular bacterium, M. ovi or Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae, is frequently present in domestic sheep and goats without causing significant illness, but it poses a severe risk of pneumonia in wild sheep. The Ministry of Water, Land, and Resource Stewardship highlighted that this bacterium can spread through wild populations rapidly via grazing, shared water sources, or salt licks once introduced.
The ministry also emphasized that the updated regulations now deem abandoning sheep on Crown land as an offense, enabling the government to take ownership of the animals.