The government of British Columbia has revised regulations to grant wildlife officers expanded authority to euthanize escaped or neglected domestic sheep to safeguard wild sheep populations. The province’s decision to alter how domestic sheep are categorized under the Wildlife Act aims to mitigate the potential transmission of diseases that could trigger large-scale deaths among wild herds.
Both domestic and wild sheep are susceptible to similar infectious agents, although variations exist in their immune responses and disease resilience. An organism named M. ovi, or Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae, is prevalent in domestic sheep and goats, typically causing no harm. However, it can induce fatal pneumonia in wild sheep populations.
According to the Ministry of Water, Land, and Resource Stewardship, the bacteria can spread through shared grazing areas, water sources, or salt licks, rapidly disseminating among wild sheep once introduced. Furthermore, the regulatory adjustments now deem abandoning sheep on Crown land as a punishable offense, empowering authorities to take ownership of neglected animals.