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Animals

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A-Z

Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep

Ovis canadensis

A Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep with head
lowered

Photograph by James L.
Amos

Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep Profile

Bighorn males, called rams, are famous for their
large, curled horns. These impressive growths are a
symbol of status and a weapon used in epic battles
across the Rocky Mountains. Fighting for dominance or
mating rights, males face each other, rear up on their
hind legs, and hurl themselves at each other in charges
of some 20 miles (32 kilometers) an hour. The resounding
clash of horns can be heard echoing through the
mountains as the confrontation is repeated—sometimes for
many hours—until one ram submits and walks away. The
animal's thick, bony skull usually prevents serious
injury.

A Rocky Mountain bighorn ram's horns can
weigh 30 pounds (14 kilograms)—more than all the bones
in his body combined. Females (ewes) also have horns,
but they are of smaller size.

Rocky Mountain
bighorns inhabit the mountains from Canada south to New
Mexico. They are relatives of goats, and have
balance-aiding split hooves and rough hoof bottoms for
natural grip. These attributes, along with keen vision,
help them move easily about rocky, rugged mountain
terrain.

Wild sheep live in social groups, but
rams and ewes typically meet only to mate. Rams live in
bachelor groups and females live in herds with other
females and their young rams. When fall mating arrives,
rams gather in larger groups and ram fighting escalates.
Usually only stronger, older rams (with bigger horns)
are able to mate.

In winter, bighorn herds move
to lower-elevation mountain pastures. In all seasons,
these animals eat available grass, seeds, and plants.
They regurgitate their food to chew it as cud before
swallowing it for final digestion.

Lambs are born
each spring on high, secluded ledges protected from
bighorn predators such as wolves, coyotes, and mountain
lions—though not the golden eagles which target lambs.
Young can walk soon after birth, and at one week old
each lamb and its mother join others in a herd. Lambs
are playful and independent, though their mothers nurse
them occasionally for four to six
months.

Fast Facts

Type: Mammal

Diet: Herbivore

Average lifespan in the wild: 6 to
15 years

Size: 5 to 6 ft (1.5 to 1.8
m)

Weight: 117 to 279 lbs (53 to 127
kg)

Group name: Herd

Protection status: Endangered

Size relative to a 6-ft (2-m)
man:

Multimedia

Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep Printable
Factsheet

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