Bighorn Sheep
They are predominantly 2 species of bighorn sheep – the Bighorn and the Desert Bighorn. The Bighorn comes from the family: Bovidea Sub - Family: Caprinae Genus: Ovis Species: Canadensis. The desert bighorn are supposedly made up of 4 sub species and is generally categorized by the Sub - Species: Ovis Canadensis nelsoni.
The natural habitat of each species is different with the Desert Bighorn obviously preferring desert conditions. The desert bighorns have two mechanisms for cooling – both panting and perspiring which is regarded as fairly uncommon for desert dwellers. The desert bighorn’s diet consists of grasses, forbs, sedges and a variety of desert plants. On which they rely for their moisture. These animals use their horns and hooves to remove spines from cacti, and then consume the juicy insides. Their natural habitat lies from California and Nevada – west to Texas and south into Mexico.
The former natural range of the bighorn sheep was within the Rocky mountains from the south of Canada to Colorado, but it has now been dispersed to areas where small groups are protected by inaccessible habitat or by refuges. These sheep now inhabit grassy mountain slopes and foothill country near rugged rocky cliffs and bluffs allowing them shelter and a quick means of escape and also alpine meadows.
In winter the bighorn sheep prefer areas of low snowfall because they aren’t equipped to paw through deep snow to feed. This species of bighorn sheep are primarily grazers – consuming grasses, shrubs, forbs and sedges but they do eat leaves twig and shoots.
The bighorn sheep are classed as “conservation dependent” so are classed low on the list just bordering on the lower scale of threatened. It is thought that bighorn sheep originated from Siberia some 750,000 years ago by crossing into the Americas by way of the Bering land bridge and they came and they bred and their numbers increased to millions.
The bighorn sheep are hunted for their meat and horns even though they are considered good barometers of land health because the species is very sensitive to many human induced environmental problems.
The Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep is now the provincial mammal of Alberta and the state animal of Colorado and are in turn incorporated into the symbol for the Colorado Department of Wildlife. Their future existence would seem somewhat unpredictable depending on their conservation dependent status. One can only hope the 2 former bodies will do something positive to retain the “symbolic” value of the bighorn sheep and support them as a species in crisis.
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