WAFWA Update - British Columbia
SHEEP STATS
JURISDICTIONAL WAFWA SUMMARIES PROVIDING IN-DEPTH, STATISTICAL SHEEP INFORMATION.
British Columbia has 4 native subspecies of wild sheep — thinhorns: Dall’s and Stone’s — bighorns: Rocky Mountain and California.
Harvest management for all species includes a combination of over-the-counter licenses for General Open Season (GOS) areas and Limited Entry Hunting Zone (LEH) draw-only hunting areas. The province currently only issues a general, non-specific sheep hunting species tag, so we are unable to report out on specific numbers of licenses sold for each of the subspecies’ hunting opportunities; the information reported for licenses sold shown in Tables 1-3 represents the number of subspecies specific draw permits issued in the 2022/23 hunt year (Figure 1).FIGURE 1
Numbers of sheep licenses sold annually in British Columbia, by hunter/residency type.
Rocky Mountain & California Bighorn Sheep
British Columbia uses a combination of GOS and LEH to manage hunter harvest in both California and Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep populations, and has recently made changes to both GOS and LEH opportunities in an attempt to mitigate population declines and address localized harvest pressure. B.C. is reporting significant declines in California BHS populations through the past five years as a result of disease and health related losses from Movi, Psoroptes and blue-tongue. Affected populations include sheep in Regions 3 (Thompson), 5 (Cariboo) and 8 (Okanagan). The 2022 provincial population estimate across all regions for California BHS was ~2,000 sheep.
Click here to download the BC Population PDF with the complete legend.
Rocky Mountain sheep have also declined to some degree in the Thompson region over the past decade, to ~400 RMBHS in 2022. Region 4 (Kootenays) populations have shown mixed outcomes with several populations declining below management objectives and some others showing slight improvements in populations over recent years. In March 2021, the Kootenays released their regional bighorn sheep management plan, that included a regional estimate of ~1,800 RMBHS.
The continent’s most northern population of RMBHS is a cross-jurisdictional population located in Region 7 (Peace) and Alberta. Inventory information has confirmed that this population has steadily declined since 2015. The B.C. portion of this meta-population has also declined to <75 sheep, as a result of severe weather events and predation effects; hunter harvest is currently managed through general open season and it increased to a 10% harvest rate in 2022. As such, the region is currently considering changes to hunting regulations in order to reduce the harvest rate to more sustainable levels (i.e., potentially moving to an LEH delivery). The total provincial population estimate is ~2,250 RMBHS.
Thinhorn Sheep
The province recently drafted a Stewardship Framework for Thinhorn Sheep in B.C. This document incorporates recent genetic information, applying it across traditional Wildlife Management Unit boundaries; from this, five large thinhorn sheep genetic population groups have been identified (Figure 2).FIGURE 2
Current Stone's and Dall's sheep distribution.
Dall’s Sheep
Recent genetic information has confirmed that the range of Dall’s sheep in B.C. is larger than previously thought. B.C. provided revisions to the previous estimates provided to the WAFWA WSI data records to reflect this new information (i.e., we re-assigned sheep previously included as Stone’s into the Dall’s category). The 2022 total estimated number of Dall’s sheep in B.C. is ~700, with the new geographic distribution being identified as all populations west of the centerline of the Teslin and Taku watersheds. Approximately 75% of all Dall’s sheep range in B.C. has been inventoried over the past decade.Hunts for Dall’s sheep in B.C. are predominantly managed through LEH draw hunts (for white sheep), however, some of the newly-defined areas immediately west of Teslin Lake that contain Fannin or dark-phased Dall’s phenotypes, continue to be managed through GOS. A review of all sheep license sales suggests that hunts for sheep in B.C. continue to increase, despite reduced numbers of LEHs being issued; this supports the general conclusion that those who receive an LEH draw are more likely to attend and hunt that opportunity today than they were in the early 2000’s (Figure 3).
FIGURE 3
Dall's sheep license sales, 2006-2023.
Stone’s Sheep
Genetic information has confirmed that the distribution of Stone’s sheep in B.C. is smaller than previously thought. B.C. has provided revisions to past estimates provided to the WAFWA WSI data records to reflect this new information (i.e., we re-assigned sheep previously included as Stone’s into the Dall’s category) and the new geographic distribution is identified as all thinhorn sheep populations east of the centerline of the Teslin and Taku watersheds. The 2022 total estimated number of Stone’s sheep in B.C. is ~12,300, however only about 35% of known Stone’s sheep range has had population level inventory work completed in it over the past decade. Hunting for Stone’s sheep provides the bulk of the hunting opportunity in B.C. with most areas managed through GOS; some smaller specific hunt areas overlapping provincial park areas are managed through LEH, and there is one archery-only GOS hunting area. A review of all sheep license sales suggests that hunts for sheep in B.C. continue to increase, despite reduced numbers of LEHs being issued for other subspecies of sheep, supporting the general sense that the number of hunters pursuing Stone’s sheep has increased since the early 2000’s. An estimate of sheep license sales focused on Stone’s sheep hunting opportunity was generated by rounding-down the result of subtracting the total number of LEH permits issued from the total number of sheep licenses sold; while the specific numbers may not be accurate, the trend very likely is (Figure 4).
FIGURE 4
Approximate number of Stone's sheep license sales, 2006-2023.
NOTE: The estimated numbers of Stone’s sheep licenses shown in the graph are generated as a rough estimation for discussion purposes only.
— Bill Jex, British Columbia Ministry of Forests, Fish and Wildlife Branch
