Rams: Facts About Male Bighorn Sheep

ByAlina Bradfordpublished28 September 2017

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

First listed on March 18, 1998. Range: California.(Image credit: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service)

Rams are male bighorn sheep, animals that live in the mountains and often settle arguments with fights that include ramming their heads into others. Not to be confused with mountain goats, rams can be identified by their long, curved horns, long fur, and split hooves. Bighorn sheep are bovines and are related to antelopes, bison, buffalo, cattle and goats.

Size

Rams are typically 5 to 6 feet tall (1.5 to 1.8 meters) from head to tail, and weigh 262 to 280 lbs. (119 to 127 kilograms), though they can grow to over 300 lbs. (136 kg). Rocky Mountain bighorn rams have massive horns that weigh more than all of the bones in their bodies. A set of horns can weigh 30 lbs. (14 kg). Ewes, or female bighorn sheep, typically weigh 30 to 40 percent less than the rams, according to theNational Bighorn Sheep Center.

Habitat

Bighorn sheep live in the Rocky Mountain region of North America, ranging from Mexico, northward across the western United States and into Canada. They live in the rocky areas, balancing on the boulders with their hooves, which are rough on the bottom to give the sheep more traction. Thanks to their amazing balance, bighorn sheep can stand on ledges that are only 2 inches (5 centimeters) wide. They can also jump 20 feet (6 m) and can go up a mountain at a brisk 15 mph (24 km/h). The only better mountain climbers in the animal world are mountain goats.

Habits

Bighorn sheep have very good eyesight, which allows them to judge distances accurately when jumping, according to the University of Michgan'sAnimal Diversity Web (ADW). They also watch animals as far as a mile away.

Herds are separated by gender. Females live in nursery herds, with five to 100 members, which include adult females and lambs of both genders. Male-only bachelor herds usually contain five to 50 rams at one time, and they sometimes engage in homosexual activity, according to ADW.

Rams fight to decide who will be the dominant male in their group. During the fight, the males will face each other, rear up on their back legs and crash their huge horns into each other. Sometimes they charge as fast as 40 mph (64 km/h). Eventually, one of the rams ends up submitting and the winner is the new leader. This process can take hours.

Get the world’s most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox.

Diet

Rams are herbivores. They typically eat seeds, grass and plants. Their diet changes depending on the season, though. In the summer, they eat grasses or sedges and in the winter, bighorns eat woody plants, such as sage, willow and rabbit brush, according toDefenders of Wildlife. What they eat also depends on the type of bighorn. For example, desert bighorns eat plants found in their location, such as desert holly and desert cactus.

One swallow of food isn't enough for these animals. They will regurgitate their food into their mouths. This regurgitated food is called cud. Then, they will rechew the food and swallow it once again. This is part of their digestion process.

Offspring

The dominant ram earns the right to mate with the females. Mating season, called the rut, is in the autumn. Males are not usually strong enough to mate until they are at least 3 years old.

Classification/taxonomy

The taxonomy of bighorn sheep, according to theIntegrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS), is:

Kingdom: AnimaliaSubkingdom: BilateriaInfrakingdom: DeuterostomiaPhylum: ChordataSubphylum: VertebrataInfraphylum: GnathostomataSuperclass: TetrapodaClass: MammaliaSubclass: TheriaInfraclass: EutheriaOrder: ArtiodactylaFamily: BovidaeSubfamily: CaprinaeGenus:OvisSpecies:Ovis canadensisSubspecies:

Ovis canadensis auduboni(Badlands bighorn or Audubon's bighorn sheep — extinct)
Ovis canadensis californiana (California bighorn sheep)
Ovis canadensis canadensis (Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep)
Ovis canadensis cremnobates (Peninsular bighorn sheep)
Ovis canadensis mexicana (desert bighorn sheep)
Ovis canadensis nelsoni (Nelson's bighorn sheep)
Ovis canadensis weemsi (Weems' bighorn sheep)

Conservation status

TheInternational Union for Conservation of Nature lists bighorn sheep as Least Concern, saying their population is widespread and not declining at any rate close enough to qualify for a listing in a threatened category. It is estimated that there are 15,500 to 15,700 bighorn sheep in Canada and more than 42,000 in the United States. It is believed that there could be several thousand bighorns in Mexico. Almost all bighorn populations are increasing or stable.

However, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service does list thePeninsular bighorn sheep and theCalifornia bighorn sheep (listed as a subpopulation of Sierra Nevada bighorns) as endangered.

Other resources

Alina Bradford

Live Science Contributor

Alina Bradford is a contributing writer for Live Science. Over the past 16 years, Alina has covered everything from Ebola to androids while writing health, science and tech articles for major publications. She has multiple health, safety and lifesaving certifications from Oklahoma State University. Alina's goal in life is to try as many experiences as possible. To date, she has been a volunteer firefighter, a dispatcher, substitute teacher, artist, janitor, children's book author, pizza maker, event coordinator and much more.