Sheep with Big horn - Bighorn sheep

Hi,   since after long time we meet again, today we will see a ship which may give you a head butt with his big horn yes we are going to see Big Horn Sheep.

                                                 Classification

Kingdom:        Animalia                                             Phylum:           Chordata

Class:             Mammalia                                           Order:            Artiodactyla

Family:           Bovidae                                              Subfamily:     Caprinae

            Genus: Ovis

Bighorn Sheep are the symbol of Rocky Mountain National Park. Bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) are one of two species of mountain sheep in North America. They range in color from light brown to grayish or dark brown, and have a white rump and lining on the backs of all four legs. Bighorn sheep get their name from the large, curved horns on the males, or rams. They are legendary for their ability to climb high, steep, rocky mountain areas.

The bighorn sheep is a species of sheep native to North America named for its large horns.

These horns can weigh up to 14 kg (30 lb), while the sheep themselves weigh up to 140 kg (300 lb). Recent genetic testing indicates three distinct subspecies of Ovis canadensis, one of which is endangered: O. c. sierrae. Sheep originally crossed to North America over the Bering land bridge from Siberia; the population in North America peaked in the millions, and the bighorn sheep entered into the mythology of Native Americans. By 1900, the population had crashed to several thousand, due to diseases introduced through European livestock and overhunting. Ovis canadensis is one of three species of mountain sheep in North America and Siberia; the other two species being O. dalli, which includes Dall sheep and Stone's sheep and the Siberian snow sheep, O. nivicola. Wild sheep crossed the Bering land bridge from Siberia into Alaska during the Pleistocene (about 750,000 years ago) and subsequently spread through western North America as far south as Baja California and northwestern mainland Mexico.

Bighorn sheep are named for the large, curved horns borne by the rams (males). Ewes (females) also have horns, but they are shorter with less curvature. They range in color from light brown to grayish or dark, chocolate brown, with a white rump and lining on the backs of all four legs. Males typically weight 58–143 kg, are 90–105 cm tall at the shoulder, and 1.6–1.85 m long from the nose to the tail. Females are typically 34–91 kg, 75–90 cm tall, and 1.28–1.58 m long. Male bighorn sheep have large horn cores, enlarged cornual and frontal sinuses, and internal bony septa. These adaptations serve to protect the brain by absorbing the impact of clashes.

Bighorn sheep have preorbital glands on the anterior corner of each eye, inguinal glands in the groin, and pedal glands on each foot. Secretions from these glands may support dominance behaviors. Mating occurs in the fall when rams use their horns as weapons of battle to fight for dominance or female mating rights. In this display called "rut," rams face each other, rear up on hind legs and pitch forward at speeds up to 40 mph. The loud crash of horns signals contact and can be heard up to one mile away. This ritual is repeated until one animal concedes and walks away. Bighorn sheep skulls are thick and bony to absorb this repeated impact with little physical injury to the ram.

The Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep occupy the cooler mountainous regions of Canada and the United States. In contrast, the desert bighorn sheep subspecies are indigenous to the hot desert ecosystems of the Southwestern United States and Mexico. Bighorn sheep generally inhabit alpine meadows, grassy mountain slopes, and foothill country near rugged, rocky cliffs and bluffs. Since bighorn sheep cannot move though deep snow, they prefer drier slopes, where the annual snowfall is less than about 150 cm per year. A bighorn's winter range usually lies at lower elevations than its summer range.

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, there were between 1.5 million to two million bighorn sheep in North America. Today, there are less than 70,000.

Bighorn sheep eat different foods depending on the season. During the summer, they subsist on grasses or sedges. During the winter they eat more woody plants, such as willow, sage and rabbit brush. Desert bighorn sheep eat brushy plants such as desert holly and desert cactus.