Meet Bighorn Sheep, Incredible Sheep First Founded In Canada

The Rocky Mountain Bighorn sheep is a native species of sheep in North America, they was founded first in British Columbia. This familiar animal is, without a doubt, one of Canada’s most identifiable due to its set of large spiraled horns.

Bighorn Sheep’s Size

A domestic sheep is roughly 1.5 times larger than a bighorn. A Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep can weigh between 50 and 130 kilograms and is normally between 1.5 and 1.8 meters tall. Females (ewes) also have horns, albeit they are notably smaller and less curled than those on males (rams), who are known for having gigantic horns. Bighorns have rough coats that, depending on the season, can be anything from a deep brown with white at the hooves and muzzle to a greyish brown.

Their Nature

Bighorn Sheep are friendly animals that travel in groups of five to twenty. Typically, herds are divided into females with young and bachelor males. A clear social hierarchy and power structure exist within groups. A ram’s status among the herd is based on his size and the size of his horns. Males will engage in combat in order to maintain or claim their dominance or to win over a partner.

Their Place In Canada

The Bighorn Sheep can be found in Canada at sporadic locations in southern British Columbia and, more frequently, in western Alberta in the Canadian Rockies. They can be found as far south as Mexico’s Baja Peninsula, and their range extends into the American Rockies.

The optimal habitat for bighorn sheep is dry, rough, and full of low-lying grasses and herbs. In the winter, herds frequently travel great distances in search of locations with little snowfall.

In British Columbia, where there are just over 3,000 bighorn sheep, the herd is regarded as threatened in part because of human encroachment on their habitats. The Bighorn Sheep, however, is regarded as secure in Alberta, where it is the recognized provincial mammal. More than 11,000 of them live there, making up more than 15% of all Bighorn Sheep in North America.

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Interesting Facts About The Bighorn Sheep

• The number of necklines on a bighorn’s horns can be used by scientists to estimate its age.
• Bighorns have an extraordinary vision; they can detect activity more than a kilometer away!
• The horns stand in for the ram’s age. They are both a status symbol and a weapon.
• The ram’s age is one more horn segment than the number of horn segments counted in the fall.
• Their split, two-toed hooves aid in balance and grip.
• They extend from western US states down into Mexico and southern Canada.
• The weight of a ram’s horns is often greater than the sum of all of his other body parts.

• They frequently inhabit rocky cliffs, bluffs, grassy mountain meadows, and alpine meadows. To avoid predators, they hide among cliffs and rocky areas.
• Scabies and pneumonia are just two illnesses that can affect bighorn sheep.
• Herbivorous bighorn sheep consume grasses, twigs, leaves, herbs, and bushes. They also like salt and mineral licks.
• Bighorns often chew their food more before swallowing it once more after subsequently regurgitating it.
• Bighorn rams engage in competitive head-butting during the rut season, or mating season, in November. They bump foreheads against one another while racing at 20 mph. Up to one mile distant, the boom can be heard.

• Fighting is done for dominance or mate rights.
• Bighorn lambs normally give birth in the spring, between April and June.
• They blend seamlessly with the mountainside thanks to their gray-brown coats.
• Bighorn sheep live in sociable herds or bands of five to fifteen. Ewes and lambs usually coexist, while rams usually dwell alone in groups of two to five.

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