A strain of sheep brought to Texas by former World War II soldiers who had served near the Barbary Coast of North Africa and saw them as game for hunters has thrived so well in their adoptive home that they’ve crowded out native animals.
In recent years, the animals called aoudad sheep have been known to carry a pneumonia-causing bacteria called “Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae” that can be spread to commercial sheep and goat herds.
That prompted the Texas House on Tuesday to overwhelmingly approve legislation to allow the hunting of aoudad by helicopter. Although the matter is serious, the discussion on the floor was less so.
“This is not a ba-a-a-ad bill,” deadpanned state Rep. Eddie Morales, an Eagle Pass Democrat whose rural district provides welcoming terrain for the transplants from North Africa. And he promised he wasn’t “trying to pull the wool over (anyone’s) eyes.”
“What’s more liberty, freedom than being able to shoot aoudad sheep from helicopters?” he asked.
No one spoke against the measure, just as no one had when the separate versions of the legislation were discussed in House and Senate committees.
The House’s version of Senate Bill 1245 was amended, meaning the upper chamber must either sign off on the changes or have the differences settled by a conference committee before the proposal is sent to the governor.
If the bill becomes law, aoudad sheep would join feral hogs among game animals that can be hunted from the air in Texas. Lawmakers in 2011 enacted legislation dubbed the “porkchopper law” as a means to try to control the proliferating wild swine that were causing expensive damage to farm and ranch land.
According to the hunting guide company Outdoors International, the aoudad population in Texas is estimated to have ballooned by 1,800% since 1963.
Once the sheep took root in Texas, landowners found them difficult to keep fenced in, and they proved to be quite adept at reproduction.
“The first recorded aoudad sheep in Texas were in Llano and Kerr counties, but their popularity quickly made them an in-demand species on exotic game ranches throughout central and southern parts of the state,” Outdoors International says on its website.
According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, a mature aoudad weighs about 275 pounds and has large, rounded horns, making it “one of the most sought-after exotic game animals in North America.”
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas bill would allow invasive sheep species to be hunted from helicopter in state
Reporting by John C. Moritz, Austin American-Statesman / Austin American-Statesman
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
