Bighorn Sheep - Sierra Club BC
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Bighorn Sheep

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Bighorn Sheep

Ovis canadensis

Appearance 

Bighorn sheep are covered with a brown coat. Their belly, rump, back of legs, muzzle and eye patch are white. Mature males have a set of massive horns which spiral backwards from the top of the head. The sheep’s hooves are hard on the outside and soft on the inside making them excellent climbers and jumpers.

Range & Habitat 

They live in alpine meadows and foothills near rocky cliffs in the Southern and Central Interior ecoprovinces. They’re almost always within range of cliffs with avalanche chutes and slopes that they use to escape from predators.

Reciprocal Relationships

The bighorn sheep are important primary consumers in the food chain. They are vegetarians, eating grasses, bushes and leaves. They live an average of seven to eight years; most die during the winter from cold, predation or disease due to lack of food. The bighorn sheep can retreat onto cliff sides to protect themselves from predators. These predators may include eagles, coyotes, bears, or the Canadian lynx. 

These beings represent a true conservation success story! In the early 1800s, there were approximately 2 million bighorn sheep in North America. However, there were few bighorn sheep left in the early 1900s, but we have worked to increase this population since. Since the record low of 3,000 in 1996, the bighorn sheep population is now back up to 80,000 in North America.

Status

COSEWIC: Not Reported
CDC: Blue

MORE INFORMATION 

If you belong to a First Nation with a story or piece of information not represented here and you would like to share more about this species, please email us at education@sierraclub.bc.ca.

Photo Credit

Canva

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