Fact sheet Mouflon

Mouflon (Ovis gmelini musimon) fact sheet Biology

Status

Distribution

Management

Conservation

References

Biology back to top

Food: Mouflons (Ovis gmelini musimon) have a diverse alimentation and a very high adaptability depending on food availability in the habitat and on the season: during summer and in wooded zones they eat leaves, acorns and fruits, while in other zones 80% of their food source are grass and legumes found on meadows. During winter their diet mainly consists of wooden parts of bushes and young trees Behaviour: Mouflons are social animals. They are both good runners and hikers and prefer rocky and steep terrains when forced to flee. They live in groups, whose size varies depending on the season. Mouflons are nocturnal. During the day they seek protection in the vegetation. Habitus: Ovis gemelini musimon have a vigorous and sturdy body with short but muscular legs adapted to the steep terrain. Female's body has a length of 115-125 cm and a height of 65-75 cm. Males are bigger, their body length ranges between 125 and 140 cm and the height between 75 and 85 cm. Weight ranges between 40 and 50 kg in males and between 30 and 40 kg in females.

The fur is very short and straight. Wool, which is goffered, tends to become thicker in wintertime. Muflons’ hair is reddish-brown on the back and white on the bottom. Males’ characteristics are the convoluted horns, which can reach a length of 50-85 cm and an amplitude of 20-26 cm. In the rutting season, the fur of males is very dark in the neck, on the back and shoulders and brighter on the saddle. Female horns are short and not convoluted [Corbet et Ovenden 1985]. Horns are perennial and grow lifelong, faster when animals are young and slowing up with age to only millimetres after the 8th year. During wintertime horns’ growth slows down, too.

Reproduction: Females become sexually mature at the age of 2, males at the age of 3-4, but the latter need another 2-4 years to reach a social status and with this the access to females. Females, yearlings and kids live in groups, whereas males aggregate in bachelor herds. During rutting season (late autumn to early winter), they meet reproductive females individually. It is during the same period that males compete with each other on better habitat by crashing their horns together. Dominance is generally determined by the age and the size of the horns. In April/May, after about 5 months, females give birth to either one or two kids [Corbet et Ovenden 1985]. Mouflons live 10 years on average. Habitat: Mouflons prefer open or half-open areas with a lot of sunshine and little snow. They also occur in forest and hilly regions if rocky and steep zones are present [Tosi e Lovari 1997]. They tend to be sedentary but are not territorial. Ideal habitats have an average of 800 mm of rain per year and less than 50 days of snow. Snowy periods and heavy snowfall can cause important migrations. Predation by wolf and lynx naturally controls the species.

Mouflons are not typical mountain animals, but they are able to occupy elevated locations

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Distribution back to top

Mouflons are native to Corsica, Sardinia and Cyprus. All other populations have been introduced for hunting reasons. They adapted well to the new habitats, though, and can be found in different countries in Europe now.

Austria: Mouflons are introduced to Austria and now live in the wild in some colonies.

France: The mouflon live on Corsica, where it is autochthonousl, in the Alps, the central Massif and the Pyrenees.

Italy: Mouflons can be found in all the provinces of the Italian Alps, with the exception of Aosta Valley, Bolzano and Venezia-Giulia.

Switzerland: In Switzerland mouflons never got introduced. Two populations have naturally migrated to Switzerland coming from France in the beginning of the 1980's and have settled in the Lower Valais - one in Morgin-Torgon and one in Champery.

Status back to top

Austria: The population size is considered to be stable [Austrian hunting association].

France: In France, 600 individuals live on Corsica and around 7'000 mouflons are dispersed between the Alps, the central Massif and the Pyrenees.

Italy: Around 1’100 mouflons, divided into 22 colonies, were estimated to live in the Italian Alps in 1984. In 1995, the number of colonies had grown up to 40 and the total number of muflons to 4’700 individuals. This significant growth can be attributed to a high productivity of some populations and partly to the creation of 18 colonies in the alpine and Piemont regions. Their presence outside Sardinia is only due to introduction operations that had started in the1955-60s.

Switzerland: The two colonies present in the Lower Valais comprise approximately 200 individuals.

Management back to top

Management issues differ all over Europe.

Austria: The annual hunting bag amounted to 1971 animals in 2003 and to 2071 in 2002 [statistics on the website of the Austrian hunting association].

France: First of all a balance of the hunting quotas between all age classes should be obtained and further research should be done to fully understand the demography of a mouflon's population [Garel et al. 2003].

Italy: Some populations, introduced in the Alpine region, have considerably developed and are now in competition with the Alpine chamois. Mouflons are hunted according to a plan to reduce their increment. The idea of an eradication of these populations is being discussed. Generally, new introductions have to be considered carefully and even avoided where there is a potential for contact between the two species [Lanfranchi et al. in Tosi e Lovari 1997]. In other marginal areas and foothills, where the chamois is not present, the idea of introducing mouflon in order to enrich biodiversity and increase hunting revenues is not excluded [Tosi e Lovari 1997].

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Switzerland: Because cross-matings between sheep and mouflons are possible, the coexistence of the two species in the same habitat is problematic. Mouflon can be hunted.

Conservation back to top

Only on Corsica, Sardinia and Cyprus mouflons are considered to be vulnerable. Especially in areas where populations are small and isolated there is a higher risk of extinction. Moreover, because of cross-matings with domestic sheep, there is a constant loss of genetic identity acquired and kept during millennia of isolation on Sardinia and Corsica.

References back to top

● Corbet, G. et Ovenden, D.; Guida dei Mammiferi d’Europa – atlante illustrato a colori; Franco Muzzio & c. editore, Padova 1985.

● Garel, M., Cugnasse, J.-M., Maillard, D., Dubray, D., Loison, A., and Gaillard, J.-M. Dynamique et gestion d'une population d'ongulés: l'exemple du muflon méditerranéen (Ovis gmelini musimon x Ovis sp.) dans le massif du Caroux-Epinose (Hérault). Report: 1-8. 2003. ONCFS.

● Lanfranchi et al. in Tosi, G. et Lovari, S., 1997. Italy. In: Shackleton (Ed.) D.M. Wild sheep and Goats and their relatives. Status survey and conservation action plan for Caprinae. IUCN/SSC Caprinae Specialist Group, Gland and Cambridge, pp. 111-118.

● Tosi, G. et Lovari, S., 1997. Italy. In: Shackleton (Ed.) D.M. Wild sheep and Goats and their relatives. Status survey and conservation action plan for Caprinae. IUCN/SSC Caprinae Specialist Group, Gland and Cambridge, pp. 111-118.

Internet:

● http://www.iucnredlist.org

● http://www.minambiente.it/

● http://www.agraria.org/

● http://www.umwelt-schweiz.ch/

● http://www.wild.unizh.ch/

● www.wikipedia.org/

● www.ljv.at

Home - (c) KORA/Malme

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