The City of Winnipeg is trying its hand at shepherding for the next two weeks.

Winnipeg's Living Prairie Museum is now the home of a flock of sheep. Sarah Semmler, Museum Director at the museum, is hopeful for this to be a successful two-week pilot project.

To manage the native and invasive species found around the museum's location, controlled burns have been the primary tool. Now, using a full coverage grazer like sheep, alternating with fire, Semmler hopes for the invasive species' numbers to dwindle as the native species grow.

"We are very excited. This is a very innovative approach to managing invasive species - it's a more natural approach. Tallgrass prairie habitat historically was frequently grazed by bison, so the plants here are adapted to it. So we're using something that the native plants are already accustomed to coping with, hopefully, the invasive plants not so much."

After the two-week trial, Semmler says they will collect samples and data to compare to their number prior to the addition of sheep. If there is a noticeable change in the number of invasive species, this may become a long-term project.

Currently, the flock resides in a fenced-in section, northwest of the museum building site. Next week, they will move south, close to the Living Prairie Museum. The sheep will be living and "working" on the museum grounds on weekdays but will go home to the farm on weekends.

Semmler knows that sheep are fun for the public and encourages people to come and have a look at the grazers, but asks for the public to keep a respectful distance from the livestock.

"These are sheep at work. Their primary purpose for being here is to graze and the best thing to do is to keep them calm and comfortable to be able to do that."