Barbary sheep

• Stocky, heavy-built, goat-like animal with shoulder height 80–100cm, weighing from 40–14kg.
• Legs are short.
• Faces are long.
• Coat is a sandy-brown colour, darkens with age. Darker line along the spine.
• Coat is woolly in the winter, molts to a sleek fine coat in summer.
• Underbelly is slightly lighter in colour.
• Long vertical fringe of hair that goes from the throat down the upper part of the front legs is a distinctive feature.
• Both sexes have horns that sweep backwards and outwards in an arch, triangular cross-section, up to 50cm long.
• Male's horn tend to be thicker than female's.

• Prefers arid mountainous areas.
• Able to get all their water requirements from their food.
• Graze at dusk, dawn and during the night on a wide variety of grasses, flowers and shrubs.

• Not yet recorded in Queensland.

• Live in small family groups usually having 1 dominant male for a group of females. The males will compete for breeding dominance but young and older males can live quite well in the same group.
• Life expectancy up to 15–20 years in wild.
• Mating can occur throughout year, usually peak between September–November.
• Females are sexually mature at 18 months and produce 1–3 offspring per year.
• Gestation is 160 days.
• Young are weaned at 3–4 months.

• Sorghum, millet, pasture, various cereal and pulse crops. Barbary sheep eat a wide variety of grasses, flowers, leaves and shrubs.

Environmental

• Can damage grassland ecosystems.
• Can spread weed seeds.

Economic

• Can compete with cattle, goats and sheep for food.
• If established, control programs are costly and resource-intensive.

Social

• Can be a traffic hazard.
• Can damage fences.
• Can be a popular target for recreational hunting.

• Before undertaking any preventative or control actions, contact our Customer Service Centre.

Shooting

• Shooting must be carried out by trained personnel with appropriate firearms licences. Shooters must possess necessary skill and judgment to kill barbary sheep with a single shot. Lactating females should not be targeted but, if they are inadvertently shot, young should be found and euthanased.

Trapping

• Trapping may be an option for barbary sheep control in some circumstances. Simplest form involves self-mustering trap.
• Traps must be monitored and barbary sheep promptly tranquillised or euthanased after trapping.

• Barbary sheep are category 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 restricted invasive animal under the Biosecurity Act 2014.
• You must not move, keep, feed, give away, sell or release into the environment.
• You must report all sightings to Biosecurity Queensland within 24 hours.
• You must take all reasonable and practical measures to minimise the biosecurity risks associated with dealing with barbary sheep under your control. This is called a general biosecurity obligation (GBO).
• At a local level, each local government must have a biosecurity plan that covers invasive animals in its area. This plan may include actions to be taken for barbary sheep. Some of these actions may be required under local laws. Contact your local council for more information.