Bighorn Sheep
Mountain sheep are members of the genus Ovis in the family Bovidae and are characterized by narrow muzzles, pointed ears, and massive curling horns in the older males (rams). Unlike true goats, Capra, they lack beards and have dished, or concave, foreheads.
Featured Listings: (add your listing)
Bighorn Sheep Art at Jackson Trading Co.
Handcrafted sculptures, yet very affordable. Also unique photography of Grand Teton and Yellowstone Parks, home to these beautiful animals. Great Gift ideas.
(800) 858-2114
Bighorn Sheep Listings: (add your listing)
Barlow Outfitting - Hunt for Big Horn Sheep
After scouting for the rams several weeks prior to opening day, we pack in to bighorn sheep country and set up comfortable spike camps before you arrive.
(866) 505-7007
The largest of the mountain sheep, the argali, reaches 1.2 m (4 ft) in height at the shoulders and 160 kg (350 lb) in weight. Coat colors range from white to gray or dark brown. The coat is generally short and coarse, with only the mouflon species developing a woolly undercoat in winter. Some forms have a mane of hair down the front of the neck. Mountain sheep generally inhabit dry upland areas, from craggy mountains into semideserts. During the summer months the adult males live in groups apart from the females and their young. In late fall and early winter the males battle for possession of females, which they gather into harems of up to 12 ewes. Dominant males treat defeated and lower-ranking males as females. Gestation lasts 5 to 6 months, and from 1 to 3 lambs are born in the spring.
Members of the genus Ovis are usually classified into six species: the bighorn, O. canadensis, of the western United States and southwestern Canada; the Dall sheep, O. dalli, of Alaska and northwestern Canada; the argali, or Marco Polo sheep, O. ammon, of central Asia; the red sheep, O. orientalis, of southwestern Asia; the Laristan sheep, O. laristanica, of southern Iran; and the mouflon, O. musimon, of Sardinia and Corsica. Some classifications recognize only two species, the bighorn and the Dall sheep being classified as O. canadensis and the other four as O. ammon. Two local races of the Dall sheep are known as Fannin's sheep and Stone's sheep.
Other pages you might find helpful:
National Bighorn Sheep Interpretive Center
The National Bighorn Sheep Interpretive Center researches and strives to protect the wild herds of sheep that surround Dubois.
network of Travel Guides