Bighorn Sheep

Emily Shaffer, Madalyn Matosian, Charlene Stephens, Dylan

Gardner, Mike Matticola, Logan Linder
How do you think humans might have
an impact on the Bighorn Sheep?
Why is it unique?
weighs 117-279
The horns can weigh up to 30 pounds.
How do they function?
jump over spans as wide as 20 feet.
move at 30 miles per hour
move up mountain slopes at 15 m.p.h.
Ovis Canadensis
Evolution
EvoIution:
- Descendants of wild Siberian Sheep
- Double layered skull protection from fighting
- Keen eyesight to helps navigate mountains
- Large horns for defense and combat
- Concave hooves to grip rocks
Evolution Today
Bighorns are evolving today due to hunting
- Target only largest and strongest
- Human hunted animals evolve 50% faster than normal
- Only the smallest and weakest can breed
Domesticated
Sheep Hoof
Bighorn Sheep
Hoof
Domesticated
Sheep Eyes
Bighorn Sheep
Eyes
Activity
What do you think makes the Bighorn Sheep
special or different from other animals?
This is your habitat, your
ecosystem, where you Iive.
This is your ecosystem, your
habitat, where you live.
Where would you find water
Where would you find food? What would
you eat?
What features would help you survive?
Eat shrubs, bushes, cactus,
grasses
Can go 5-15 days without water
Food/Water Supply
Do you think there maybe
problems regarding where the
live and what they need to live?
What do you think they are?
Why do you think their horns are
important?
Horns weigh 30
pounds
Helps them survive-
defend themselves
Fight for dominance,
find a female
Determine age, status
Horns
Balance- Eyes & Hooves
See 8x better than most mammals
Can see 1 mile away
Hard on outside, soft on inside
How do you think their eyes
and hooves help them?
Fur- How does their fur help them?
Human mpact
19th Century Domestic Sheep brings diseases that wipe out most of the
Bighorn Sheep population
Human mpact
Conservation
Conservation:
Why shouId it be conserved?
Only about 900 left
New predators will move in
Disrupts food chain
New herbivores would move in attracting new predators
Other animals around the bighorn sheep would move into other areas
looking for different food such as mountain lions.
Habitat would change and maybe start to die off.
How can we conserve?
How can we save the bighorn sheep and their habitat?
llegalize hunting of bighorn sheep
Don't let domestic sheep inbreed with wild bighorns
Stop construction constructions can take away the animals water source
and homes.
Under water pipes.
f you save the bighorn sheep's habitat, you will save the bighorn sheep.
(Vice versa)