Mouflon description. Mouflon... The last wild sheep in Europe. average life expectancy

As you know, all domestic animals have wild ancestors, many of which are alive and well in our time. The cat has a wild forest cat, the dog has a wolf. But for a domestic sheep, the mouflon actually serves as such an ancestor. This wild sheep is a typical mountain dweller. Mouflons also live in Europe (in the region of Corsica and Sardinia) - this is a European subspecies; and in Asia, including in the region of Kazakhstan, it is an Asian variety. The European mouflon is the only wild sheep in this part of the world.

An Asian variety of mouflon lives in the region of Kazakhstan

Mouflon characteristic

Mouflon is a medium-sized ram, characterized by large, strongly twisted horns.. Horns are present mainly in males; in sheep they can also occur, but only in very rare cases, they are less pronounced and smaller in size. The Asian subspecies (it can be seen in the reserves of Kazakhstan) is slightly larger in size, but otherwise practically does not differ from the European one; he also has thick horns, trihedral in diameter and twisted in just one turn.

In the countries of the former USSR, this species is also found in Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Transcaucasia. And in foreign Asia, it is found in Iran, Afghanistan, and some parts of India. The color of these creatures in the summer is reddish-brown, in Asians it can vary to yellowish-red. Fur in this period is short. The European mouflon may have a darker back stripe. By winter, the coat becomes longer and acquires a darker, brown color.

The Asiatic wild sheep has a peculiar mane of black, brown and white hair on the lower half of the neck. The coloring of the mouflon makes it hardly noticeable against the background of the mountainous landscape; This makes hunting for it more difficult. As already mentioned, the mouflon is a mountain sheep and is found only in this type of landscape. This wild ram tries to avoid steep rocky slopes, preferring even open places.

The Asian wild sheep has a peculiar mane of black, brown and white hair on the lower half of the neck.

This animal has an interesting social behavior. Sheep and lambs form large herds, in which there are up to a hundred individuals; but the males lead a solitary life, joining the herd only during the breeding season.

Despite this, it is the males who build the appropriate relationships within the group that have a sense of hierarchy. When it is very hot, mouflons like to rest in the shade of trees. If the shadow moves, the animals move into it again. They prefer nocturnal activity, this should be taken into account by those who are attracted to hunting them. Characteristics:

• the length of the male mouflon is 1.25 m;
• tail length - 10 cm;
• shoulder height - 70 cm;
• cross-sectional length of the horn up to 65 cm;
• weight 40–50 kg.

Mouflon hunting

Mouflon hunting has been going on for a long time. Only the European subspecies is of commercial importance, which gives tasty meat and high-quality skin. Asian meat is also sometimes eaten, but it is not of high quality. The Asian mountain sheep has a predominantly “entertainment” meaning - it is a sport hunt. It is difficult to get these animals, because it lives in inaccessible places.

Mouflon hunting

In case of danger, the mountain sheep quickly runs away, heading for a wide open place where it can run wherever it pleases. So mouflon hunting is not for the faint of heart. The horns of this animal are valuable, to get their real honor. The possession of such horns is the pride of a good hunter. But not only hunting attracts lovers of mouflons. Since this ram is the closest relative of the sheep familiar to us, selection work has been carried out for a long time to develop new breeds.

So, academician M.F. Ivanov, using the mouflon, received a new breed of sheep. This is one that is able to graze on highland pastures throughout the year. In the Ustyurt Reserve of Kazakhstan and in a number of other places, hunting for mouflons is prohibited.

Mouflons in reserves and in captivity

Attempts to acclimatize mouflons have also been made for a long time, and most often they are successful. At the beginning of the twentieth century, several of these animals were settled in the Crimea. In the Crimean Reserve, they took root and subsequently multiplied. Mouflons in captivity should be borne in mind that they are in great need of water. Therefore, the aviary must be equipped with a large capacity. They do not hesitate to drink even very salty water if there is no other nearby.

Moufflons have taken root in the Crimean Reserve

The aviary should have enough space, because these animals are not accustomed to crowding. Mouflons in the reserve are not so rare. Initially, the distribution of these sheep in Europe was limited only to Sardinia and Corsica, but then they were successfully settled throughout southern Europe. Not everywhere these animals are protected.

Mouflons also live in the reserve in Cyprus. The local variety of these animals is the national symbol of the state: the mouflon is depicted on various emblems, stamps, banknotes, coins, and even on the airline logo. Hunting for him in the Paphos reserve is strictly prohibited. The area in Paphos where these artiodactyls live is very small - only 500 square meters. This is one large aviary surrounded by barbed wire. So you can easily find animals. It is forbidden to enter the "aviary" itself.

The local government pays monetary compensation to those farmers whose land has been affected by mouflons. This allows you to save the population from disgruntled farmers who almost destroyed these rare animals. You can also look at mouflons in some city zoo, where there is an aviary with them, but it is much more interesting to see them like this, “live”, in their natural habitat.

On the territory of Kazakhstan, the mountainous Ustyurt Reserve is famous, one of the "symbols" of which is the mouflon. It is depicted on one of the postage stamps of Kazakhstan dedicated to the reserve. Here, the scope for these sheep is much larger, they no longer need an "aviary", as in Cyprus.

Mouflon hunting in the reserves is strictly prohibited.

This reserve was established in 1984. At that time, the development of the deserts of Western Kazakhstan was underway, and the problem of preserving rare species of flora and fauna arose. In addition to mouflons, there are many other protected animals and plants, including 5 species listed in the Red Book. The administration of the reserve is located more than 200 kilometers from it itself - in the city of Zhanaozen.

Mouflon and argali

In appearance and size, the mouflon is very similar to argali. This is another mountain sheep, also living in Central Asia and the southern regions of Siberia. What is the difference between these two closely related species? These are horns: in argali they are more curved and “artsy”, besides, not only males, but also females have this decoration. But the mouflon has more subtle and "aristocratic" features of the "face".

Argali are unknown to modern Europeans; ancient authors were well aware of it. The Latin name of the species Ovis ammon goes back to a poem by Ovid, in which an ancient myth is transmitted: fearing the terrible giant Typhon, the gods turned into different animals; Egyptian Amon turned into an argali - a mountain sheep.

Mouflon... Europe's last wild sheep
29.12.2014

Mouflon (Ovis gmelini or Ovis orientalis) is a ruminant artiodactyl animal of the ram genus.

The Asian mouflon (Ovis orientalis, Ovis aries orientalis) is a mammal from the genus of mountain sheep of the goat subfamily of the bovid family.

The Asian mouflon is higher than the European one, its height at the shoulders is up to 90 cm, the body length can reach 150 cm. The weight of the male is up to 80 kg, the female is up to 46 kg.

The Asian mouflon forms 5 subspecies and is distributed from Transcaucasia and the southern parts of Turkmenistan and Tajikistan to the Mediterranean Sea and northwestern India.

It is also found in Armenia, in northern Iraq, in the Balkans and in the Crimea, where it was introduced in 1913.

Lives in the mountains, can rise to a height of about 4000 meters.
The horns of the Asian mouflon are large, spirally twisted, trihedral, forming no more than one whorl. The horns are bent first outward and upward, and then downward, the ends slightly turned inward.

The horns of males vary greatly in length and massiveness; their girth at the base is from 20 to 30 cm.

Horns in females are small, flattened, slightly curved, often completely absent.

In summer, the color of Asian mouflons is reddish-brown or yellowish-red in summer, the fur is short. In winter, the color is brownish, with poorly developed red and white tones. The belly and the inside of the legs are lighter, with a yellowish or white color.

On the ridge there is a dark stripe, more pronounced in adult animals. Along the underside of the neck, Asian mouflons usually have a mane of black-brown and white hair. Young lambs are covered with soft brownish-gray fur.

The place of distribution of Asian mouflons is mountainous landscapes.

Females and lambs together form a herd of up to 100 individuals, while males are solitary and join the herd only during the rut. Males are characterized by the presence of strong hierarchical ties within the community.

Mouflons feed on grasses, shoots and leaves of shrubs. They regularly go to watering places, and they can drink even very salty water. Starting in spring, they diligently gain weight, and in autumn and winter they lose a lot of weight.

Wild mouflons are preyed upon by wolves and leopards, while lambs are preyed upon by smaller predators such as foxes.

But the main enemy of the mouflon is "a man with a gun." This animal is not of great industrial interest, only the so-called "trophy hunters" get it as a "sports trophy". The large horns of the mouflon are an “enviable trophy” for such a “hunter”.

It is very difficult to get mouflon, because it is a very cautious animal that lives in difficult terrain, and therefore "trophy hunters" use the most modern optics and long-range sniper rifles and carbines.

It is believed that it is the mouflon that is the progenitor of all breeds of domestic sheep and was domesticated about 8 thousand years ago.

Successful acclimatization of the European mouflon is of great scientific and practical importance, since the ancestor of domestic sheep, the mouflon easily forms crossbreeds, hybrids with various breeds of sheep, improving their qualities.

Soviet academician M.F. Ivanov, using mouflon, bred a new breed of sheep - mountain merino, which can graze all year round on mountain pastures.

30,000-200,000 rubles

mouflon(Ovis gmelini)

Class - mammals
Detachment - artiodactyls

Family - bovids

Subfamily - goats

Genus - sheep

Appearance

On average, mouflons reach a length of 130 cm. Height 90 cm, weight 50 kg in males and 35 kg in females. The general color is reddish-brown with a dark stripe along the back and faint shading spots on the sides. The bottom is white. The muzzle and circles around the eyes are also white.

Males have horns, females may or may not have horns.

In winter, they are covered with a thick undercoat.

Habitat

Currently, the mouflon is distributed in the Armenian Highlands (for example, in the Khosrov Reserve in Armenia), in northern Iraq, and in northwestern Iran. There is also a mouflon in Cyprus, Corsica and Sardinia: however, it remains debatable whether these are true wild sheep or descendants of the original domestic sheep.

They prefer mountainous landscapes. But, in contrast to the goats, the rams under normal conditions are not inhabitants of the rocky mountains. More characteristic are open mountain stations with a calm relief: plateaus, gentle slopes, rounded peaks. True, sheep do not avoid and even have the habit of staying in places where areas of calm terrain are combined with gorges, deep ravines or rock ledges. But the gorges and cliffs serve the sheep only as places of rest and shelter from the heat and winter weather. A necessary condition for the habitat of mouflons, in addition to the presence of a good pasture and a broad outlook, is also the proximity of a source of watering.

Lifestyle

Females and lambs together form a herd of up to 100 individuals, while males are solitary and join the herd only during the lek. Males are characterized by the presence of strong hierarchical ties within the community.

In most mouflon distribution areas, seasonal migrations are weakly expressed or absent altogether. Usually only minor vertical movements of populations occur. As already noted, in the summer the rams rise higher into the mountains, obviously attracted by the cooler climate and better supply of juicy green fodder. For the winter, they descend to the lower strip of mountains. There are irregular migrations of sheep in dry years, associated with a lack of food and drinking moisture.

Mouflons run fast: their run is so fast and dexterous that "it is not visible how the animal touches the ground." If necessary, they make high, up to 1.5 m, and long jumps, easily jump over bushes and stones. Often jump down from heights up to 10 m; when jumping, the head and horns are thrown back, the front and hind legs close together, landing on widely spaced legs.

Within the chosen habitat, mouflons lead a relatively sedentary lifestyle, adhere to certain places of rest, feeding and watering places. When crossing, they use the same paths, as a result of which, in areas where there are a lot of rams, they trample and bury noticeable paths.

In the daytime, during hot sunny hours, sheep take refuge in gorges, under rock canopies or in the shade of large trees. They go out for fattening (grazing) in the summer when the heat subsides. They feed before dusk. Drink at sunset or early in the night. At night, at least for a while, they rest. At dawn, they drink again and head to the mountains, where they graze near the places of daytime rest until the heat sets in.

Laying rams, apparently, are constant; they look like rather deep, up to 1.5 m, trampled pits, sometimes even burrows, going under rocks, roots of shrubs and trees, or simply under overhanging slopes. The purpose of digging deep beds is, apparently, not so much disguise as protection from the harmful effects of high temperature.

In winter, sheep graze all daylight hours. In severe cold and bad weather, they take refuge in deep gorges protected from the wind or in rocks.

The basis of the mouflon's nutrition in the summer is a variety of herbs: feather grass, fescue and wheatgrass.

In winter, sheep feed on the remains of dry grass sticking out from under the snow, and graze on snowless areas. Apparently, mouflons are not very capable of digging grass from under the snow. With a lack of other food in winter, they eat thin branches of shrubs and even gnaw the bark.

Mouflons have well-developed hearing, smell, and vision. The most acute sense of smell. Mouflons are very sensitive and cautious animals. It is believed that it is impossible to approach them closer than 300 paces from the leeward side. Often even, but seeing a person, they can smell him downwind for 300-400 steps and further. Females with lambs are especially careful. On the other hand, mouflons often show signs of curiosity. Seeing a person, if he is moving calmly, they sometimes look at him without moving, and let him walk about two hundred paces. When running, they sometimes stop and look back.

reproduction

Mouflons reach puberty and begin to participate in reproduction in the third year of life. In some animals, estrus occurs at the end of October. The mass rut ​​of rams in most regions takes place from mid-November to the first half of December.

At this time, the animals are kept in herds of up to 10-15 heads, in which there are one or two, or even more adult males. Expulsion by males of each other from the herd, apparently, does not occur, but fights take place between them. Having dispersed about twenty meters, they rapidly approach and hit the bases of the horns with force, so that the sound of a blow in the mountains can be heard 2-3 km away. Sometimes males grapple with their horns, grappling with each other, fumbling, falling, making moaning sounds. However, in contrast to, for example, deer, tired males stop fighting and both remain peacefully in the herd, so that all rams in the herd can participate in covering the females. After a while, the fight may resume. There are no known cases of severe injuries or killings during fights. But males at this time lose their usual caution and more often than usual become a victim of a hunter or a predatory beast.

Females during estrus and fights of males behave calmly. The courtship of wild rams for females is similar to that observed in domestic sheep: the male with a quiet bleating follows the female, rubs his neck against her sides, tries to cover. At the end of the sexual season, the males do not separate from the herds and remain with the females until spring.

Pregnancy in wild mouflons, like in domestic sheep, lasts about five months. The first cases of lambing can take place already at the end of March, but basically the birth of young animals occurs in the second half of April and in the first half of May.

Before lambing, the females separate from the herds, go alone into deep gorges or stony placers, where they give birth to lambs in secluded places. They usually bring two lambs, less often one or three (very rare cases when there were even four lambs).

Lambs feed on the milk of their mothers until September or October, but they begin to consume green food little by little earlier, from the age of one month. The voice of the mouflon does not differ much from the voice of a domestic lamb. By the age of one year, young mouflons reach a little more than two thirds of the height of adults and about one third of their weight. Full growth in height is reached by 4-5 years, but the increase in body length and live weight continues up to 7 years.

Life expectancy in a natural setting does not exceed 12 years.

In captivity, the mouflon is easily tamed, completely losing fear of humans. When crossed with a domestic sheep, it produces fertile offspring.

They are fed, as a rule, with mixed fodder for sheep and hay.

The average life expectancy in captivity is 19 years.

The progenitor of domestic sheep, is considered to be the smallest of the mountain sheep, mouflon. Animal artiodactyl, mammal, ruminant, bovid, belongs to the goat subfamily and genus.

The height of an adult reaches 0.9 meters, the length is 1.3 meters. The weight of the female is only about 30 kilograms, the male can weigh up to 50 kilograms, due to the impressive size of the horns. Age of the mouflon you can easily find out by counting the annual rings on his horns, in the male they are large and twisted, and in females they are small, barely noticeable and flat.

The coat of the animal is short and smooth, the color changes from season to season, it has a reddish tint in summer, and chestnut-brown in winter. The summer fur cover lasts until August, then it is replaced by a coarser and more brittle winter variant.

The animal has one interesting feature, from the head to the short tail, a thin black stripe runs through its entire back. Nose, underparts and hooves are white.

There are European and Asian mouflon, which is also called Ustyurt mouflon or arcal. There are very few distinctive features between them, the Asian relative is slightly larger and, of course, each has its own habitat. At the arcal, these are Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Turkey. Ustyursky lives on the territory, in the steppe areas of Ustyurt and Mangyshlak.

The habitat of the European species, the highlands of Cyprus, Sardinia and Corsica, are found in the Armenian Highlands and in Iraq. Especially, he is revered by the locals of Cyprus, they guard the number of mouflon, and worship him as a symbol of the nature of the island. They are often depicted on coins and stamps, Cyprus is no exception in this regard, and residents of Kazakhstan also make it.

They migrate depending on the location of pastures and water bodies. They feel more comfortable on the gentle slopes of the mountains and in the foothills, on rocky terrain they do not behave as confidently as wild goats. Once on the edge of an abyss or a rocky gorge, the mouflon becomes absolutely helpless.

If the animal feels danger, it can move quickly across open areas while emitting loud and sharp sound signals. In nature, large predators can be called enemies of the mouflon, and a fox can also be dangerous for young individuals.

Mouflon nutrition

Mouflons are herbivorous, feeding on cereals and other forbs, and are often seen in wheat fields. With pleasure they feast on young shoots of trees and shrubs.

The diet of the animal includes field plants and berries, bark and foliage of fruit trees, bulbs of some plants, which the mouflon gets out of the ground. Regularly go to waterholes, mouflon ram, which can drink even very salty water.

Reproduction and lifespan

animal mouflon breeds faster than other representatives of the genus of sheep, reaches sexual maturity at two years. Mouflon females carry offspring for about five months, after which one baby is born, less often two or more. This happens in March and April, on the very first day the mouflon cub is already on its feet and even feeds on jumping. The life expectancy of an animal is 12-17 years.

Mouflon is a herd animal, females with lambs live in herds, the number of which can reach 100 individuals. In autumn, when the mating season begins, males adjoin them.

At this time, strong and loud fights very often take place between the boyfriends for the right to be considered the head of the herd and, accordingly, have the priority right to the female. All other times of the year, males live in splendid isolation.

The mouflon is a very ancient animal, the first mention of it can be found in the drawings in the Sahara Desert and they date back to three thousand years BC. What is most interesting, true mouflons, those that are the ancestors of domestic and sheep, now live only in Corsica and Sardinia, and the Sahara is very far from this place.

In the twentieth century, the animal became a constant subject of hunting, the number of mouflons began to decline sharply. But they became interested in saving the species in time, and as a result, the area where they lived became protected and reserves were created.

The animal, the ancestor of domestic animals, therefore, now in many farms they are trying to accustom it to the aviary way of life. Mostly those born in captivity mouflons, adapted for life at home. Breeding mouflons is not difficult, any beginner can handle it without much difficulty.

Buy mouflon, you can search for ads for sale on the Internet. To find a copy that suits you, you need to read about the features of its content, what kind of diet a particular individual is accustomed to, and, of course, mouflon photo will be the final criterion for choosing a pet.

Buying such an exotic animal is not cheap, price animal ranges from 15 to 100 thousand rubles, depending on the age and documents of the individual. Animal fur is rarely used to make clothing and accessories.

Mouflon is the last representative of mountain sheep. He is very shy and cautious, lives in the highlands in difficult terrain, and a rare hunter can boast of his prey.

Mouflon fur coat, this is an affordable, high-quality and warm thing, but it is not always possible to find it on sale. In winter, the animal forms a very dense and thick coat, it is from it that wonderful things are obtained that protect us from bad weather.

The enterprising Soviet academician M.F. Ivanov, bred a new breed of sheep - the mountain merino, using the wild mouflon. It is from merino wool that now most often you can find elite bedding, blankets, bedspreads and, of course, exclusive and warm clothes.

Firearms manufacturers named after an animal, gun mouflon, high-tech, smooth-bore and long-barreled weapon with a large margin of safety.

Like its namesake animal, it is very unusual in many aspects, in appearance and patented internal details, even a special cartridge was created specifically for this weapon.

Mouflon is an artiodactyl animal belonging to the genus of sheep. Forms a species in which there are 5 subspecies. Representatives of the species live in the Caucasus, in Anatolia, in the northern and eastern regions of Iraq, northwestern Iraq, and Armenia. They live in Cyprus, where they form an endemic subspecies. They were settled in the south of continental Europe. There is a small colony on Kerguelen Island in the southern Indian Ocean. These animals were brought to North and South America for the purpose of hunting. The habitat is steep wooded mountain slopes. In winter they descend to lower altitudes.

The height at the withers reaches 85-92 cm. The body length reaches 150 cm. Males weigh an average of 50 kg, females 35 kg. Males have horns. Horns are rare in females. The horns are bent almost one full turn, and their length reaches 85 cm. The tail reaches a length of 10 cm. The coat is relatively short and smooth. Its color is red-brown with dark rear stripes and light upper spots.

Reproduction and lifespan

The rut period runs from mid-autumn to early winter. At this time, males create a certain hierarchy in order to gain access to females. This is expressed in fights. Sexual maturity occurs at the age of 2-4 years. But young rams, after reaching puberty, do not enter into relationships with females for another 3 years. Only after this period they begin to compete with mature males. Pregnancy in females lasts 5 months. 1 or 2 cubs are born, but twins are rare. In the wild, the mouflon lives 8-12 years.

Females with young animals form herds, and males live alone. With females, they unite only during the rut. At the same time, they achieve such a privilege by engaging in battle with each other. Mouflon was successfully cloned in 2001. He lived for 7 months. It is the first clone of an endangered mammal.

The molting of these animals begins in the last days of February and ends at the end of April. In May-August, summer hair is observed in animals. In September, winter fur begins to appear. It is fully formed by the month of December.

Relationship with a person

These animals have tasty meat and strong thick skin, so people have always hunted moufflons. It is believed that representatives of the species are the ancestors of domestic sheep. Crossed with sheep, they form improved breeds. Currently, in many parts of the world, the mouflon is the object of sport hunting. The main trophy for hunters are big horns. Hunting these representatives of the bovid family is a rather difficult task, as the animals are extremely cautious and live in places where it is difficult for people to reach.