Bill Allowing Helicopter Hunting Of Invasive African Sheep Passes Texas House
https://www.kurv.com/bill-allo...-passes-texas-house/Bill Allowing Helicopter Hunting Of Invasive African Sheep Passes Texas House
By jsalinas 24 hours ago
A Senate bill to allow Texans to hunt an invasive African sheep from helicopters now has the approval of the Texas House. No one spoke in opposition to the measure before the House overwhelmingly approved it on Tuesday.
The imported aoudad sheep have thrived well enough to compete with native animals, and they carry a strain of bacteria dangerous to commercial sheep and goats. If the Senate approves the House’s amendments to the bill, it’ll soon be on its way to Governor Greg Abbott for his signature.
https://www.popsci.com/environ...-helicopter-hunting/Texas aims to legalize hunting invasive sheep from helicopters
‘I’m not pulling any wool over anyone’s eyes,’ vows Rep. Eddie Morales.
By Andrew Paul
Published May 8, 2025 11:35 AM EDT
Texas lawmakers have introduced a new bill intended to help the state’s ongoing fight against an invasive species of big game animal. But in order to properly tackle the aoudad sheep (Ammotragus lervia), Texas House Representative Eddie Morales argues that it’s time to call in the helicopters.
“This is not a baa-a-ad bill,” Rep. Morales explained during a recent legislative session while employing his best sheep impression. “And I’m not pulling any wool over anyone’s eyes, either.”
HB 5398 seeks to amend the Texas Parks and Wildlife Code so that residents have the option to “take” (i.e. hunt) aoudad sheep while flying in helicopters over herds. If codified into law, aoudads would become the third animal on the helicopter hunting list, along with coyotes and feral hogs. The latter species was sanctioned for aerial culling in 2011 through a piece of legislation nicknamed the “porkchopper law.”
The aoudad problem dates back decades to the years following World War II, when veterans returned to West Texas with sizable souvenirs from North Africa’s Barbary Coast. Reaching over 3.5 feet tall at the shoulder and averaging in at 275 lbs, the horned grazers soon became a popular target for big game hunters.
Unfortunately, the results were also typical of many invasive species stories: aoudad numbers have exploded as much as 1,800 percent since 1963 at the expense of native animals like bighorn sheep and commercial livestock. An estimated 30,000 aoudads now roam the Lone Star State, compared to only around 1,500 bighorns, and it’s been difficult to rein in those numbers. What’s more, aoudads are confirmed to carry a harmful bacteria known as Mycoplasma Ovipneumoniae that continues to infect and kill local sheep and goat populations.
Aoudads aren’t the only invasive sheep species to make it to Texas. Earlier this year, a Montana rancher was sentenced to six months in prison after pleading guilty to illegally breeding hybrid “Frankensheep” clones using DNA from giant Marco Polo argali. Some of the offspring were then sold to buyers in Minnesota and Texas. While it’s unclear just how many hybrids now exist on private big game ranches, the consequences could be far-reaching if any were to escape into the wild.
While no legislation is in the works to address Frankensheep, HB 5398 is now slated for approval by the Texas Senate before heading to the governor’s office for ratification. Given that the state senate previously voiced no objections to an earlier version of the bill, it seems likely that the choppers will soon take to the skies to battle the invasive animals.
“What’s more liberty and freedom [sic] than being able to shoot aoudad sheep from helicopters?” Rep. Morales asked his fellow politicians during the bill’s proposal.
15 May 2025, 00:57
crbutlerThat they are trying to get helicopter “hunting” probably is more a marketing item for some Texas ranchers.
Folks eat up the pig hunts for some reason. Lots of old/out of shape folks like to hunt/shoot.
As I understand it, problem animal control by government agents and contractors has been around forever, so a law allowing the authorities or designated agents to shoot invasive species from a helicopter is already there.
This is about letting more groups in on it.
While I don’t doubt that too many of any critter can be a problem, Texas has always been at the forefront of monetizing it.
Frankly, I have no desire to shoot animals from a chopper. I can see where it would be essentially a live action video game, and fun, but it’s not really hunting.
15 May 2025, 11:29
K Evansquote:
Originally posted by crbutler:
That they are trying to get helicopter “hunting” probably is more a marketing item for some Texas ranchers.
Folks eat up the pig hunts for some reason. Lots of old/out of shape folks like to hunt/shoot.
As I understand it, problem animal control by government agents and contractors has been around forever, so a law allowing the authorities or designated agents to shoot invasive species from a helicopter is already there.
This is about letting more groups in on it.
While I don’t doubt that too many of any critter can be a problem, Texas has always been at the forefront of monetizing it.
Frankly, I have no desire to shoot animals from a chopper. I can see where it would be essentially a live action video game, and fun, but it’s not really hunting.
Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it! It is a lot of fun and eliminates a lot of pigs from some areas that are basically unhuntable, no matter how young and fit one might be.
As a management tool this is likely the best way to handle pigs and other invasive animals. In December a company flew the place next to mine in West Texas, they shot over 300 pigs in two days. There isn’t a noticeable difference in numbers of pigs on game camera tearing up feeders on my place or the neighbor.
As for the aoudad, they are a muisance on some ranches and a huge danger to Texas growing bighorn sheep population. Last Movember we toured a TPW wildlife management area that holds the largest population of “clean” bighorn sheep in Texas. They fly the area one a week to check sheep and eliminate unwelcome animals that have breached the fences, including aoudad, they shot 32 the day we were there.
https://www.texastribune.org/2...ng-sheep-helicopter/Texas legalizes shooting invasive sheep from a helicopter for sport
Aoudad sheep are joining the short list of animals Texas lawmakers allow to be shot from a helicopter for sport, along with coyotes and feral hogs.
By Jess Huff
June 9, 2025
1 hour ago
Barbary sheep, also known as Aoudad sheep, were introduced to Texas from their native habitat in North Africa mid-20th century. Popular among hunters, considered an invasive species by farmers and ranchers, the Texas Legislature has added them to the list of animals that can be hunted helicopters, along with feral pigs an coyotes.
Barbary sheep, also known as Aoudad sheep, were introduced to Texas from their native habitat in North Africa mid-20th century. Popular among hunters, considered an invasive species by farmers and ranchers, the Texas Legislature has added them to the list of animals that can be hunted helicopters, along with feral pigs and coyotes. Credit: Courtesy of Leroy Williamson/Texas Parks and Wildlife
Barbary sheep are massive beasts with large crescent horns and a mane that drapes from the bottom of their neck to their stomachs.
Also known as aoudads, the animals are native to the mountains of northern Africa. In the 1950s, they were brought to West Texas. Seventy years later, farmers and ranchers say the sheep is an invasive species, munching up all the vegetation and competing for resources with native Texas grazers, like bighorn sheep or mule deer.
Texas lawmakers this year added aoudads to the very short list of animals hunters are allowed to shoot from helicopters for sport. Prior to this legislation, only two animals were on that list: hogs and coyotes.
“Everything has to be kept in checks and balances,” said West Texas rancher Warren Cude. “And right now, the aoudad are very similar to the feral hogs.”
The large sheep’s population has spread from Fort Stockton to the mountains of El Paso and over the plains, Cude said. Their growing numbers have made it difficult for ranchers to manage their properties effectively.
The sheep are also not known to be “fence jumpers.” In actuality, they trample fences, which can cause thousands of dollars of damage.
“It's just devastating to your management practices,” Cude said.
When the aoudad move in, they graze the area until it's deprived of all the vegetation other animals need. Nicolas Havlik, a regional resource coordinator for the state’s parks and wildlife department, said he has seen grazing lands, which have already been hit by drought for years, overgrazed by the aoudad, leaving the native wildlife to compete for resources.
Jason Sabo is a part-time resident of Fort Davis, in Jeff Davis County, which has been hit the hardest by the aoudad. He typically spends the legislative session petitioning lawmakers on the behalf of child care providers, but this year saw the need to let them know about aoudad.
He has visited Fort Davis for years, and recalls the moment when he realized the aoudad were an issue.
“I'm looking at this hillside that's covered in aoudad, and they're majestic. They're really cool creatures,” Sabo said. “But off to the side are two mule deer who are native. And the aoudad are physically displacing them.”
His property is in Olympia Crossing, which is surrounded by conservation easements that people, for decades, have spent millions of dollars to protect.
The aoudad are also able to spread diseases to other animals, and to cross breed with the bighorn sheep. Without a change, all of that conservation work is at risk.
“There aren’t really any known predators to them in West Texas,” Cude said. “A coyote is not going to take one down. The lion could take one down, but it’s going to be a fight. So they're breeding faster than you can manage them with a straight hunt.”
A U.S. Department of Agriculture study found that when done correctly, hunting hogs from helicopters has been successful at reducing populations at least by 31%. This study clarifies that hunting in this manner by professionals is key, however.
Hunting aoudad by helicopter has always been legal. However,this change will turn it into a niche hunt few can afford, said Michael McKinny, owner of the West Texas Hunt Organization, a professional hunting outfitter in the West Texas and Big Bend regions.
The cost of hunting aoudad has risen significantly since McKinny began outfitting those hunts 17 years ago, he said. Where he used to offer those hunts for $1,800, hunters are now looking at several thousand dollars, especially when the cost to provide those hunts has risen so dramatically.
“By the time you pay for a pilot, fuel, and gas for the helicopter service to go up, you’re not going to shoot babies, young rams or ewes,” McKinny said. “You’re up there for the trophy.”
Hunters will now be able to recover the aoudad’s bodies, McKinny said. They weren’t allowed to before, he said. McKinny said he doesn’t believe that it’s possible to eradicate all the aoudad, as the population is so large and spans into Mexico and New Mexico as well. But if it were to happen, hunting operations like his would lose 50-60% of their business.
Havlik believes that permitting hunting by helicopter for sport can help, but truly reducing the impact of aoudad will take a lot more than just public hunting access, he said.
Cude is optimistic about the impact of hunting aoudad by helicopter, at least for his fellow ranchers. It costs about $1,000 per hour to hire a company to hunt the aoudad by helicopter.
“If they can get some help by eliminating some of the aoudad, and not have it come out of their pockets, then that's a win-win,” Cude said.
The law goes into effect Sept. 1
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