Desert Bighorn Sheep
Fast Facts
- Scientific Name:
- Ovis canadensis mexicana
- Habitat:
- Steep, rocky terrain for escape from predators, bedding, and lambing. May go without visiting water for several days to weeks sustaining body moisture from food and temporary pools of rainwater. Their home range is typically 17 km².
- Characteristics:
- Stocky and heavy-bodied; approximately the size of Mule deer; both sexes have horns which continue to growth through life. Extremely keen eyesight.
- Weight:
-
115-280 lbs. (Rams)
Ewes are smaller. - Lifespan:
- 6-12 years in the wild, up to 18 years in captivity.
- Mating Season:
- July - October but breeding can occur anytime; males do not defend breeding territories but do fight for breeding rights
- Gestation and Birth:
- 150-180 days with lambs typically born January through April. Twins are unusual, with the norm being single lambs. At birth, the lambs will stand up and follow their mother right away.
- Behavior:
- Most active during daylight hours. Bighorn zigzag up and down cliff faces with amazing ease using ledges only two inches wide for foot holds; they can bounce from ledge to ledge over spans as wide as 20 ft. and scramble up mountain slopes at 15 mph.
- Diet:
- Mainly comprised of grasses but may eat sedges, forbs, and cacti. They have a complex nine-stage digestive process that allows them to maximize removal of nutrients from their food.
- Lifestyle:
- Live in separate ram and ewe bands most of the year but reunite during mating season.
- Predators:
- Mountain lions, coyotes, bobcats
- Fun Facts:
-
Adult ram horns may measure over 3 feet long and weigh over 30 lbs.
Their hooves are cloven, sharp-edged and concave.
Over level ground, they can move at over 30 mph
Bighorn Lamb Born on
April 1 2015
Photo by Jay Pierstorff
April 6, 2015
On Tuesday, April 1st, just in time for Easter, the Desert Museum welcomed its newest resident, an adorable Bighorn lamb. The ewe, which gave birth yesterday, is the same ewe which delivered a female lamb just before Mother’s Day, 2014.
This is the 7th successful Bighorn birth at the Museum and the 3rd lamb for this ewe. It is unknown at this time whether the lamb is male or female.
The lamb is acquiring walking, romping and climbing proficiency by the minute. Visitors may catch a glimpse of it frolicking as newborns do. Visitors are likely to be surprised by how quickly lambs adapt to steep terrain. The newborn can be viewed during the Museum’s normal public hours except, of course, is it is napping behind the scenes or during occasional routine veterinary exams.
“The Museum is so pleased to have another successful birth as part of the Sustainable Species Program (SSP) organized by the American Zoological Society,” offered Shawnee Riplog-Peterson, the Museum’s Curator of Mammalogy and Ornithology. “And it’s always a delight for guests to see newborns and have the opportunity to watch them grow.”
This 4-year old ewe is part of an exchange program organized by the American Zoological Association's program to breed captive Bighorn sheep with the purpose of expanding the genetic diversity of the animals held in captivity by six partner organizations, By using extensive genetic DNA information, the goal of the program is to breed for the most diverse herd possible, thereby diminishing the need to remove any additional wild Bighorns from their natural environment.
Video taken less than an hour after her birth
Already climbing on the morning after her birth