Mountain Sheep

mountain sheep: see bighorn.

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bighorn

 or mountain sheep

Bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis).

(credit: Harry Engels—The National Audubon Society Collection/Photo Researchers)

Stocky, climbing hoofed mammal (Ovis canadensis) of western North America. Both sexes have horns that in the male may curve in a spiral more than 39 in. (1 m) long. Their fur is usually brown with a whitish rump patch. The related thinhorn, or Dall's sheep (O. dalli), of Alaska and Canada is similar to the bighorn. Both species are about 39 in. (1 m) tall at the shoulder, but the bighorn is heavier, weighing up to 300 lb (136 kg). They live in small groups among remote crags and cliffs of mountainous areas and feed mainly on grasses. Bighorn rams compete for females by launching themselves at each other from a few yards' distance and clashing horns.

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Mountain Sheep 

(Ovis), a genus of artiodactyl ruminants of the Cavicornia family. The animals are up to 140 cm long, measure 65–120 cm at the shoulder, and weigh 40–200 kg. The two species are the Marco Polo sheep (O. ammon) and the bighorn sheep (O. canadensis). Both species form a large number of geographic races. (Some researchers classify the mountain sheep inhabiting the USSR into four species.)

Mountain sheep inhabit open spaces (plateaus and gentle mountain slopes) and avoid plains devoid of shelter. As a result of human economic activity and intensive hunting, the distribution of mountain sheep is confined basically to alpine regions (up to elevations of 5,500 m). Mountain sheep feed on grassy vegetation and are gregarious, polygamous animals. The mating season lasts from the end of November through December. The gestation period is about five months, with no more than two young being born. The animals reach sexual maturity in their second year and may live 12–13 years. While running they can attain a speed of up to 60 km/h. In many areas the number of mountain sheep has declined sharply, and hunting has been partially prohibited. The meat and skin are used. Mouflons have become acclimatized in the hunting reserves of Western Europe. Mountain sheep were domesticated far back in antiquity and are the progenitors of many modern breeds of domesticated sheep.

REFERENCES

Tsalkin, V. I. Gornye barany Evropy i Azii. Moscow, 1951.
Sokolov, 1. I. Kopytnye zveri. Moscow-Leningrad, 1959 (Fauna SSSR, vol. 1, issue 3).
Geptner, V. G., A. A. Nasimovich, and A. G. Bannikov. Parnokopy-tnye i neparnokopytnye. (Mlekopitaiushchie Sovetskogo Soiuza, vol. 1.) Moscow, 1961.