Quote:
Originally Posted by Ephemerella
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The animal in the photo is not a true Mouflon in my view as it lacks the "trademark" white saddle patch and the angle of the photograph greatly exaggerates the size of the beast. The swept back horn shape is also not right for a Mouflon and is more reminiscent of the Asiatic Urials or Aoudad sheep of nearby North Africa. The Mouflon is the smallest variety of wild sheep and thus all the American sheep, the Dall, Stone, Bighorn, and Desert Bighorn are bigger than the Mouflon. They are in fact much bigger, most Amercian sheep are about 36 - 40" at the shoulder whereas the Mouflon is usually barely 30", Bighorns weigh up to 230lbs whereas a good Mouflon ram weighs about 150lbs. The test of a true Mouflon is that if you grip it on the saddle a man can lift it single handed whereas any of the American sheep would require a contender for World's Strongest Man to even attempt this. Mouflon are native to Corsica and Sardinia and have been introduced to Spain and other places in mainland Europe and so you'd need to check the provenance of the sheep to determine exactly what they are.
My guess is that this is either an Aoudad, a Urial or an Aoudad or Urial x Mouflon.
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“There is no more lovely country than Monmouthshire in early spring. Nowhere do the larks sing quite so passionately, as if somehow inspired by the Welsh themselves. There is a blackbird on every thorn and a cock chaffinch, a twink as they call him there, on every bush...... It moved me profoundly. I had been spared to see another spring, and I thank God for it.”
Oliver Kite
“A Spring Day on the Usk”
A Fisherman’s Diary
Last edited by sewinbasher; 06-12-2010 at 08:42 AM.
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Mouflon
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