Species group · Mammals

Sheep

WAnimals has 2 species of sheep, all in the family Bovidae.

2 species
1 family
2 countries
10 parks
Weight
45 kg – 160 kg
Length
1.2 m – 1.8 m
Lifespan
12 – 14 years

Ranges calculated from the entries that record the figure, not from all 2.

All 2 species of sheep on WAnimals

Each one has its own full entry. This group does not replace them: it brings them together.

Conservation status

1 Least Concern1 Not Evaluated

No species documented in this group is genuinely at risk according to the IUCN, with the data available today.

See the global conservation status

Where they live

Recorded in 2 countries. The ones with the most species in the group:

Where to see them

Did you know…

  • Its horns grow throughout its life, and their rings give away the animal's age.

    From Thinhorn Sheep

  • The growth rings on its horns work like a tree's: each winter leaves a mark, and by counting them the exact age of a ram can be known.

    From Thinhorn Sheep

  • It is the only wild sheep in the world with a pure white coat, effective camouflage during the eight months a year that its mountains are under snow.

    From Thinhorn Sheep

  • Its pupil is rectangular and horizontal, which gives it a field of view of some 300 degrees and lets it watch for predators almost without turning its head.

    From Sheep

  • It recognises and remembers for years the faces of several dozen individual sheep and particular people, according to the neuroscience studies carried out on the species.

    From Sheep

  • It was among the first hoofed animals to be domesticated, some 11,000 years ago, from the Asiatic mouflon in south-west Asia.

    From Sheep

Ecosystems

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