The European mouflon (Ovis aries musimon ) is a feral subspecies of the primitive domestic sheep. It was originally found only on the Mediterranean islands of Corsica and Sardinia, but has since been introduced into many other regions of Europe. It is not to be confused with Ovis gmelini, also called the mouflon, which occurs in the Middle East and is also ancestral to modern domestic sheep.
Male mouflon are known as rams and the females as ewes. The young animals are known as lambs.
European mouflon have a body length of up to 120 cm, a shoulder height of 90 cm, a weight of 25 to 40 kg for ewes, 35 to 55 kg for the ram.The European mouflon has a smooth hairy coat, the rams are fox red-brown in the summer, usually with a whitish saddle patch, the ewes are brownish. Both sexes are darker in winter. The rams have helix-shaped horns up to 80 cm long; females have no horns on Sardinia, but on Corsica they have smaller horns that are slightly curved towards the rear.
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In Corsica and Sardinia the European mouflon was endangered by hunting and poaching. Only strict regulation and resettlements appear to have slowly stabilized the population. In Corsica, where hunting for mouflon has been prohibited since 1953, there were only about 180 in 1967, but by the 2010 the population had grown to 800. In Sardinia, the numbers in 1955 were around 700, but in 1967 this had fallen to just 300. Through protection programmes, the population rose however to over 1,000 in 1980. In 2015 there were an estimated 6,000 mouflon in Sardinia.
ed the population. In Corsica, where hunting for mouflon has been prohibited since 1953, there were only about 180 in 1967, but by the 2010 the population had grown to 800. In Sardinia, the numbers in 1955 were around 700, but in 1967 this had fallen to just 300. Through protection programmes, the population rose however to over 1,000 in 1980. In 2015 there were an estimated 6,000 mouflon in Sardinia.
The relatively low numbers in Corsica contrast with the rest of the current range of the mouflon. Today the largest numbers live in the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary and Austria and there are still large populations in Spain, France, Slovenia, Slovakia, Croatia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Serbia and Bulgaria.
In the introduced populations of Central Europe it is estimated that there are over 60,000 mouflon (in 2005 there were 90,000), the largest population being in the Czech Republic (17,500). The population in Germany was around 15,600 animals in 2010 (c. 20,600 in 2005) living in about 120 groups. In Hungary there are around 10,600 and in Austria about 7,500 mouflon (no herds in Vorarlberg). In the early 1980s, mouflon migrated from France to the Swiss canton of Valais, where there are now two colonies with a population of around 200 animals. The IUCN considers the European mouflon as feral populations of ancient domestic livestock, and therefore doesn't provide an assessment for the subspecies' conservation status.
European mouflon usually form small herds with an older ewe as the leader. Rams often form separate groups outside the rutting season. During the rutting season, the rams fight over the ewes, especially by ramming each other with their curved horns, in order to push their rivals away. European mouflon are herbivores and eat a wide range of food. They also debark trees and seriously hinder tree growth. Their rutting season is in October/November; the gestation period is about five months, and birthing takes place in March/April. One or two lambs are born, the suckling time is about six months.
The escape behaviour of European mouflon is adapted to their actual high mountain habitat: in case of danger, they flee to inaccessible rock faces. In the lowlands, they can only escape short distances and become easy prey for pursuers.
