What is the history of Bighorn Sheep?

Bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) is a type of sheep native to North America. The species is named because of its large horns. A pair of horns can weigh 14 kg (30 lb); sheep usually weigh 143 kg (315 lb).

Recent genetic testing shows three different subspecies of Ovis canadensis, one of which is endangered: the Sierra Nevada bighorn.

The sheep crossed from Siberia over the Bering Land Bridge to North America; The population in North America peaked at millions, and great horned sheep entered the mythology of Native Americans.

By 1900, the population had fallen to several thousand, due to diseases caused by European livestock breeding and overfishing. Ovis canadensis is found in the Rocky Mountains from Southern Canada to Colorado and as a desert subspecies from Nevada and California to western Texas and southern Mexico.

Ovis canadensis (Bighorn Sheep) lives in alpine meadows, grassy alpine slopes and foothills near rugged, rocky cliffs and cliffs. Bighorn sheep need drier slopes where annual snowfall is less than sixty inches a year as they cannot claw in deep snow to feed. The winter range is usually 2,500-5,000 feet high, while the summer range is between 6,000-8,500 feet.

The Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep occupy the cooler mountain regions of Canada and the United States. In contrast, desert bighorn sheep subspecies are native to the hot desert ecosystems of the Southwestern United States and Mexico.

Bighorn sheep often live in mountain meadows, grassy mountain slopes, and foothills near rugged, rocky cliffs and cliffs. Because large horn sheep cannot move through deep snow, they prefer drier slopes where annual snowfall is less than about 150 cm (60 inches) per year. A bighorn's winter range is usually found at lower elevations than the summer range.

What are the characteristics of Bighorn Sheep?

Bighorn sheep have double-layered skulls supported by bone studs for protection from war. They also have a large, large tendon that connects the skull and spine together to help the head turn and pull back from impact.

Horns can weigh up to 14 kg, which is the weight of all bones in the ram's body. A female's horns are much smaller and only slightly curved.

A coach's horns can tell a lot about him, such as his age, health, and combat history. The desert subspecies, Ovis canadensis nelsoni, are slightly smaller and have flatter, wider spreading horns. The pelage of Bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) is smooth and consists of the outer coat of brittle guard hairs and short, gray, tortuous fleece fur. The summer coat is a rich bright brown, but becomes muted at the end of winter.

Breeding: Bighorn sheep live in large herds and typically do not follow a single ram, unlike the mouflon, which is the ancestor of domestic sheep with a strict dominance hierarchy.

Prior to the mating season or "heat", rams try to establish a dominance hierarchy to determine access to sheep for mating.

Bighorn sheep are perhaps best known for head-on combat among males. Horn size is a symbol of rank, and the mass of the horns (up to 14 kg) is used to a man's best advantage when hitting his opponent at 20 miles per hour. It was observed that the war lasted 25.5 hours (approximately 5 battles per hour) until one of the men gave consent.

Bighorn Males do not defend territories, but instead go to war for mating access to a particular female. Male dominance status is determined by age as well as horn size, and homosexual activity is seen in male groups where the dominant animal acts as a courting male and the subordinate plays the role of an angry female.

Bighorn Ewes is seasonally polyoestrus and often accepts several Bighorn rams while in oestrus. Due to intense competition for females among males and a dominance hierarchy based on age and size (including the size of the horns) Bighorn males generally do not mate until the age of seven. Young males will mate earlier if dominant rams in their group are killed.

The heat season is in the autumn and early winter, and births take place in the spring. For desert bighorn, mating can last from July to December.

Pregnancy lasts 150-180 days, after which usually one, rarely two youngsters are born. Newborns are early and can follow their mothers at a good pace over the rocky terrain after the first week. Within a few weeks after birth, the puppies form their own groups and seek their mother's only occasional breastfeeding. They are completely weaned at 4 to 6 months of age.

Bighorn females have been mated between 10 and 11 months of age in captivity, but generally do not breed until their second or third year in the wild. The interval gestation period is 5 to 6 months. Big-horned ewes seek shelter to breed their lambs. The puppies suckle for 4 to 5 months, with lambs growing from about 4 kg at birth to 25 to 35 kg at weaning (males are usually heavier).

Bighorn Lambs can follow and walk their mother across steep terrain right after birth. Men do not participate in parental care.

Bighorn Sheep Lifespan Longevity: Longevity depends on population status. In declining or stable populations, most sheep live more than 10 years, with a maximum of 19 years. However, in a population that has expanded with intensive breeding, the average life expectancy is only 6 to 7 years.

It is known that females live to the age of 19 and males to the age of 14, but reaching these ages is rare. Even in areas where there is no prey, females rarely exceed 15, and males rarely live beyond 12.

Juvenile mortality is variable and can be quite high, from 20 to 80%, averaging 5 to 30 %. Between the ages of 2 and 6 there is relatively low mortality. Although not as well built for climbing as mountain goats, bighorn sheep zigzag up and down cliff faces with amazing ease. They use ledges only 2 inches wide for footholds, and bounce from ledge to ledge over spans as wide as 20 feet. They can move over level ground at 30 miles per hour and scramble up mountain slopes at 15 mph. They also swim freely, despite their massive bulk and the weight of their horns.

Most populations undergo seasonal movements, generally using larger upland areas in the summer and concentrating in sheltered valleys during the winter.

Bighorn sheep are gregarious, sometimes gathering in herds of over 100 individuals, although small groups of 8 to 10 are more common. Mature males usually stay apart from females and young for most of the year in separate bachelor flocks. Young females generally remain in their mother's group (led by an older ewe), but males depart when two to four years old and join a group of rams. Young Bighorn sheep of both sexes learn migratory paths and suitable habitats from adults in the group.

Bighorn sheep are very alert and have remarkable eyesight that allows them to judge distances accurately in jumping and locating footholds. They often watch other animals moving at distances of up to a mile away. Bighorn sheep probably also use chemical cues, as do most mammals, to distinguish reproductive states and may use visual cues to assess dominance among males.

Bighorn sheep are less vocal than domestic sheep. The lambs bleat, and ewes respond with a gutteral "ba". At other times of the year, adults utter throaty rumbles or "blow" in fright. During the rut, the rams frequently snort loudly.

Bighorn Sheep Food Habits: Bighorn sheep are mainly diurnal, feeding intermittently throughout the day. Ovis canadensis canadensis is largely a grazer, consuming grasses, sedges, and forbs, but it will take some browse when preferred food is scarce (especially in winter).

Desert bighorns eat a variety of desert plants and get most of their moisture from the vegetation, although they still visit water holes every several days.

 The availability of escape territory in the form of rocky cliffs is important to bighorn sheep survival. If a sheep can reach a rocky outcrop or cliff, it is usually safe from the attack of wolves, coyotes, bears, Canada lynx, and mountain lions.

Bighorn Sheep Contagious Disease: Many Bighorn Sheep populations in the United States experience regular outbreaks of infectious pneumonia resulting from the emergence of asymptomatically transmitted bacterial pathogens (especially Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae and some Mannheimia haemolytica strains) in domesticated sheep.

Once introduced, pathogens can be rapidly transmitted through a bighorn population, causing deaths at all ages, sometimes killing 90% of the population. In the years following pathogen introduction, large-horned populations often experience outbreaks of lamb pneumonia for several years. These outbreaks could severely limit recruitment and possibly play a powerful role in slowing population growth.

Two hundred years ago, large horn sheep were common in the western United States, Canada, and northern Mexico. The population was estimated to be between 150,000 and 200,000.

Irregular harvests, habitat destruction, overgrazing of pastures, and diseases from domestic animals all contributed to the decline, the most severe of which occurred from about 1870 to 1950.

What is the weight of Bighorn Sheep?

Bighorn Males 119-127 kg; and Bighorn females 53-91 kg. Bighorn rams are typically 160-180 cm from head to tail, Bighorn sheep are about 150 cm.