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Date Published: 10/03/2022

ARCHIVED - Study claims Barbary sheep are no longer an invasive species in Murcia

ARCHIVED ARTICLE

The research shows the sheep have no negative impact on the native mountain goat in the Sierra Espuña

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Study claims Barbary sheep are no longer an invasive species in Murcia

After decades of roaming free in the Sierra Espuña in Murcia, a newly commissioned study is committed to removing the Barbary sheep from the Spanish Catalogue of Invasive Alien Species. This would mean that the animals would be considered “naturalised” and there would no longer be restrictions on hunting them.

The analysis, led by four renowned researchers from the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) and the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) and Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM), will be presented to the Royal Spanish Hunting Federation on March 31.

The Barbary sheep (Ammotragus lervia) was first introduced into the mountains of Sierra Espuña in 1970 and the population boomed despite an outbreak of sarcoptic mange between 1991 and 1995. In 2016 the Supreme Court ordered the extermination of the species due to the damage it was causing to surrounding farmland and native fauna, but the animals were given a reprieve in 2018 and allowed to remain in Murcia in limited numbers.

The new study sought to establish whether the artificially introduced Barbary sheep still poses some type of threat to native species, both plants and animals, and more specifically to the mountain goat.

By examining the feeding habits of the sheep and goats, the researchers found that, far from competing for sustenance, “their joint presence in the mountainous ecosystems of the southeastern peninsula” is perfectly compatible, since both animals display different feeding behaviours.

There are now around 885 Barbary sheep in the Sierra Espuña, while up to 1,276 mountain goats and sheep roam the mountains of Cambrón, Pedro Ponce, Burete, Quípar and Las Cabras de Cehegín.

Scientists believe that to sustain both species, there should be no more than 7 animals per km2; with its 15,000 hectares of land, a population of around 1,000 animals in the Sierra Espuña would be perfectly sustainable.

This figure “could be considered as adequate for the maintenance of the ecosystem, ensuring a sufficient positive impact on landscape heterogeneity.”

Image: Archive

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