The bulk update request #10557 is pending approval.

remove alias ewe (0) -> sheep (36491)
remove alias lamb (0) -> sheep (36491)
remove alias mobian_sheep (9) -> sheep (36491)
remove alias ovine (0) -> sheep (36491)
remove alias ram (0) -> sheep (36491)
remove alias sheep_boy (0) -> sheep (36491)
remove alias sheeps (0) -> sheep (36491)
remove implication sheep (36491) -> caprine (120655)
remove implication bighorn_sheep (629) -> sheep (36491)
remove implication dall_sheep (456) -> sheep (36491)
remove implication domestic_sheep (8285) -> sheep (36491)
remove implication wild_sheep (148) -> sheep (36491)
remove implication mouflon (130) -> wild_sheep (148)
remove implication snow_sheep (1) -> wild_sheep (148)
remove implication urial (5) -> wild_sheep (148)
remove implication sheep_taur (82) -> sheep (36491)
remove implication sheep_taur (82) -> caprine_taur (145)
remove implication sheep_humanoid (1097) -> caprine_humanoid (2422)

Followup 1:

mass update sheep -> ovine

Followup 2:

imply ovine -> caprine
alias ovis -> ovine
alias wild_sheep -> ovine
alias sheep_boy -> ovine
imply domestic_sheep -> ovine
alias sheep -> domestic_sheep
alias sheeps -> domestic_sheep
alias ewe -> domestic_sheep
alias ram -> domestic_sheep
alias lamb -> domestic_sheep
imply sheep_humanoid -> ovine_humanoid
imply ovine_humanoid -> caprine_humanoid
imply ovine_humanoid -> ovine
imply sheep_taur -> domestic_sheep
imply sheep_taur -> ovine_taur
imply ovine_taur -> caprine_taur
imply ovine_taur -> ovine
imply argali -> ovine
alias mountain_sheep -> argali
imply bighorn_sheep -> ovine
imply dall_sheep -> ovine
imply mouflon -> ovine
imply snow_sheep -> ovine
imply urial -> ovine

When someone types 'sheep' into the tags, 99% of the time they're gonna mean domestic sheep. Similar aliases for other domestic animals have long been in place here (dog -> domestic dog, cat -> domestic cat, pig -> domestic pig), and the 'sheep' page on Wikipedia is the article for domestic sheep (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheep )

Redefining sheep to domestic sheep also opens up ovine as a tag for sheep-like fictional species, such as Wooloo or Flaaffy.

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In regards to the implementation of the sheep -> domestic_sheep alias, there are two options:

A. mass update sheep -> ovine beforehand, and leave ~26k posts that would need to be retagged with domestic sheep.

B. just let the alias go through, and have domestic sheep incorrectly affixed to ~1.9k posts from which it would need to be removed.

I think option A is the better one as the retagging could be scripted pretty easily (add domestic_sheep to ovine -argali -bighorn_sheep -dall_sheep -mouflon -snow_sheep -urial -pokemon)

Not a fan of alias sheep -> domestic_sheep. It could create similar issues as alias cat -> domestic_cat and similar had, which I've been trying to fix. Having the tag named "domestic_sheep" implies the existence of non-domestic sheep, which would make "sheep" ambiguous as referring to either domestic or non-domestic varieties. A more general tag shouldn't be aliased to a more specific one, as people will use it for the more general meaning (at least some times) and create mistags. That a mass update for sheep -> ovine is needed first, or else have almost 2k mistagged posts, indicates to me that "sheep" is being used for non-domestic variations, making the alias not good. e6 isn't an animal biology site, the tags don't need to reflect proper scientific classification, as long as it's close enough and people know what it's for.

To me it seems like a baaaaaaddddd! idea.

watsit said:
That a mass update for sheep -> ovine is needed first, or else have almost 2k mistagged posts, indicates to me that "sheep" is being used for non-domestic variations, making the alias not good.

The majority of those are because of the current implications

I don't see anything wrong with ovine being aliased to sheep as it is now.

Tbh I'd be okay with this because it's what Wikipedia uses