Mufflon

Sometimes moufflons are also referred to as “mouflon”. The word “muffle” comes from the language of hunters and means something like “short snout”.

Characteristics

What do mouflons look like?

Mouflons are also called European wild sheep: they are the wild ancestors of our domestic sheep and belong to the bovid family. However, European mouflons are smaller than our sheep and wild sheep in other countries. They are only 110 to 130 centimeters long and 65 to 80 centimeters high.

Their tail measures up to 8 centimeters. Mouflons weigh 25 to 55 kilograms. The males are each significantly larger and heavier than the females. Their fur is smooth. In summer the males are reddish-brown, the females are brown.

In winter, the males are rather black-brown and have a so-called saddle patch, which runs from the middle of the back to both sides of the body. The saddle patch is also called the mirror.The females are grey-brown and have no saddle patch. Legs and abdomen are white in males and females. The snout is light-colored, the tail is dark.

A typical feature of the moufflon males is the mighty, spirally curved horns. They can grow up to 80 centimeters long. When a male mouflon is around ten years old, his horns are so long and twisted so much that they form a full circle. Hunters also call these horns “snails”. The females, on the other hand, only have very small horns, a maximum of 15 centimeters long, which are slightly bent backward. Some females even have no horns at all.

Where do mouflons live?

A long time ago, muffles were widespread in the Mediterranean region and from southern Germany to Hungary.

However, they were heavily hunted 3000 to 4000 years ago and eventually became extinct almost everywhere. The last pure moufflons live today only on Corsica and Sardinia. But even there they find fewer and fewer suitable habitats in which they are undisturbed and are not pushed out by the domestic sheep.

However, mouflons were introduced as game animals to many other European countries, for example to Germany in 1902. Outside of their homeland of Corsica and Sardinia, you will hardly find pure moufflons, as they easily crossbreed with other wild sheep and also with domestic sheep. Mouflons are mountain animals. They mainly live in the dry, stony regions of the mountains of Corsica and Sardinia. Animals naturalized with us in Central Europe also live in forests, in the lowlands, and in low mountain ranges.

What types of mouflon are there?

There are 40 to 54 different wild sheep species worldwide. However, many scientists divide the sheep into only two species: they are called Ovis ammon and Ovis canadensis. There are said to be around 30 different subspecies of Ovis ammon, which lives in Europe, western and central Asia. The bighorn sheep Ovis canadensis lives in eastern Siberia and North America. This species includes around 15 different subspecies.

How old do mouflons get?

Mouflon lives up to 15 years, in some cases even up to 18 years.

Behave

How do mouflons live?

Mouflons are active during the day and at dusk. They live in small packs, which usually consist of only females and young animals. The oldest female is always the lead animal. Outside the rutting season, the males usually form their own groups. During the rutting season, they then join the groups with the females and compete for their favor. They take a strong run-up and then crack their horns against each other.

Sometimes they bump against rocks or tree trunks with their horns. However, injuries almost never occur. Even the young males practice these fights in the game. Mouflons are very agile and are excellent climbers and jumpers. As a result, they are very well adapted to their mountain habitat.

They also have excellent eyesight – no bird of prey that could threaten the young escapes their sight. Mouflons have a very good sense of smell and can detect enemies from 300 meters away. For this reason, mouflons are rarely observed: they discover us long before we see them and immediately flee. Mouflons mark their territories with special scents.

Friends and foes of the mouflon

As far as they still exist in their habitat, wolves and lynxes can be dangerous for mouflons. Juveniles can also fall prey to golden eagles and foxes.

How do mouflons reproduce?

The mating season for mouflons is from October to November. Five and a half months later, around March and April, the females give birth to their young, which weigh just two kilograms at birth. After half an hour the little ones get up and try to take their first steps. Mouflons usually have one or two young. The offspring are nursed for half a year.

Three weeks after birth, the little mouflon weighs twice as much, and after a year about ten times as much as when they were born. Even if they are already eating independently, the young remain with their mother’s pack. Young males do not leave the pack until they are two years old when they become sexually mature. Females become sexually mature at eight to nine months of age. They stay with their mothers’ packs.

How do mouflons communicate?

Mouflons can yell “Mah” like sheep. The boys mostly complain and bleat. In case of danger, the animals emit a sharp whistle as a warning sound, similar to the chamois.