Bighorn Sheep
Ovis canadensis
A ram's horns can weigh up to 30 pounds, which is more than the weight of its entire skeleton.
- Scientific name
- Ovis canadensis
- Taxonomy
- Animalia › Chordata › Mammalia › Artiodactyla › Bovidae › Ovis
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- stable
- Biome
- grassland
- Habitat
- Alpine meadows, rocky mountain slopes, and desert foothills with nearby cliffs for escape cover.
- Diet
- Herbivorous, feeding on various grasses, sedges, and forbs, as well as woody plants in winter.
- Range
- Rocky Mountains, Sierra Nevada, Great Basin, Sonoran Desert
- Size
- 5 to 6 feet long; 160-350 lbs for rams, 120-200 lbs for ewes.
- Lifespan
- 10-15 years
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Habitat fragmentation, competition with domestic livestock, and susceptibility to domestic sheep diseases like pneumonia.
- Safe to approach?
- Maintain a safe distance of at least 100 yards. Bighorn sheep are generally non-aggressive but can be defensive if cornered or during the autumn rutting season. If they change their behavior because of your presence, you are too close. If a ram charges, do not run; stay calm and move away sideways to get out of its path.
The bighorn sheep ( Ovis canadensis ) is a species of sheep native to North America named for its large horns. These horns can weigh up to 14 kg (30 lb), while the sheep themselves weigh up to 140 kg (300 lb). Recent genetic testing indicates three distinct subspecies of Ovis canadensis , one of which is endangered: O. c. sierrae . Sheep originally crossed to North America over the Bering land bridge from Siberia; the population in North America peaked in the millions,...
Photo: John Krampl, CC-BY, via iNaturalist
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