The government of British Columbia has modified regulations to grant increased authority to wildlife officers in euthanizing escaped or deserted domestic sheep to safeguard wild sheep populations. According to the province, the reclassification of domestic sheep under the Wildlife Act aims to prevent the transmission of diseases that could potentially result in large-scale mortality among wild herds.
Domestic and wild sheep are susceptible to similar infectious agents, although their immune responses and disease resistance levels vary. One such bacterium, M. ovi (Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae), commonly found in domestic sheep and goats, generally does not cause illness but can trigger fatal pneumonia in wild sheep.
The Ministry of Water, Land, and Resource Stewardship highlights that this bacterium can spread through shared grazing areas, water sources, or salt licks, posing a significant threat to wild populations upon introduction. Additionally, the regulatory adjustments now deem abandoning sheep on Crown land as an offense, thereby enabling the ministry to take ownership of the animals.