Surveys for M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis (M. ptb.) in free-ranging mammals and birds were conducted to evaluate premise contamination (shedding), range of infected species, type of pathology and array of infective M. ptb. alleles for two cattle management systems (beef vs. dairy) from two geographically diverse regions. Specimens were collected from 774 animals representing 25 mammalian and 22 avian species from a total of nine dairy and beef cattle farms in Wisconsin and Georgia. Specimens of ileum, liver, intestinal lymph nodes, and feces were harvested from the larger mammals; a liver specimen and the gastrointestinal tract were harvested from birds and small mammals. Cultures were performed using radiometric culture and acid-fast isolates were identified by 16s/IS900/IS1311 PCR and mycobactin dependency characteristics. Thirty-nine samples from 30 animals representing nine mammal and three avian species were test-positive for M. ptb. Nine animals were found to be infected in Georgia and 21 in Wisconsin. Shedding, as indicated by the presence of M. ptb. in fecal specimens, was documented in seven (0.9%) animals: three raccoons, two armadillos, one opossum, and one feral cat. Isolations of M. ptb. were made at least four times from each of the tissue types selected for testing. Strains isolated from wildlife were the same as those obtained from the collection premise's cattle. The use of two highly polymorphic SSR loci for 28 of the 39 isolates identified 10 different alleles. One allelic pattern broadly shared in domestic ruminants ("7,5") appeared in approximately one-third of the wildlife M. ptb. isolates studied. Given the few cases of shedding by free-ranging animals, contamination of the farm environment by infected wildlife is negligible when compared to the volume of contaminated manure produced by infected domestic ruminant livestock. Wildlife may however have some epidemiological significance for farms free of M. ptb. but located in the geographic vicinity of infected farms.