Aoudad

Maximum longevity: 21.7 years (captivity)

A viable female offspring was produced when a female domestic goat was mated with a male Barbary sheep. This was confirmed by a backcross with a male Barbary sheep (Gray & Simpson, 1980; The Mammals of Texas - Online Edition, 1994).

Ammotragus lervia is a relatively large sheep. The main pelage of the Barbary sheep is brown; however, the chin, throat, chest, and insides of the front limbs are covered with long, white hair. This white hair is called the ventral mane and appears as if the sheep had a beard. Sexual dimorphism is evident. Males can be up to 145 kg, while females are much smaller, the largest are up to 65 kg. Both males and females have horns that curve outward, backward, and point inward toward the neck. Females' horns are smaller, but have the same shape (Gray & Simpson, 1980; The Mammals of Texas - Online Edition, 1994).

Range mass: 65 to 145 kg.

Other Physical Features: endothermic ; homoiothermic; bilateral symmetry

Sexual Dimorphism: male larger; ornamentation

Average lifespan
Status: captivity: 20.9 years.

Average lifespan
Status: wild: 10.0 years.

Average lifespan
Status: captivity: 20.0 years.

Ammotragus lervia is endemic to the mountains of Northern Africa. It has also survived in the mountains and canyons of the dry southwestern United States. Barbary sheep live in the desert mountains from sea level up to the edge of the snows.

Barbary sheep are also well adapted to a dry climate. They are able to survive long periods of time without fresh water intake by using metabolic water (Gray & Simpson, 1980; The Mammals of Texas - Online Edition, 1994; Schaller, 1977).

Habitat Regions: temperate ; terrestrial

Terrestrial Biomes: desert or dune ; savanna or grassland ; mountains

Barbary sheep, also called auodads, originated in the hills of the Sahara and have inhabited all the major mountains of North Africa. In the late 1800s, Barbary sheep were introduced into Europe, including Germany and Italy. Around 1900, the first Barbary sheep were transferred to the United States to be placed in zoos. Surplus zoo stock was sold to private parties who eventually released some to the wild in New Mexico in 1950 and in Texas in 1957. This has allowed a wild population to develop in the southwestern United States (Gray & Simpson, 1980).

Biogeographic Regions: nearctic (Introduced ); palearctic (Introduced ); ethiopian (Native )

Barbary sheep are herbivorous, feeding on a variety of vegetation such as grass, forbs, and shrubs. Seasonal variation plays a role in determining their diet. In the winter, grass makes up the majority of food intake, while shrubs are the more common food the rest of the year (The Mammals of Texas - Online Edition, 1994).

Plant Foods: leaves

Primary Diet: herbivore (Folivore )

In the United States, Barbary sheep are commercially bred to be used for sport hunting. Nomads of the Sahara depend on Barbary sheep for meat, hide, hair, sinews, and horns (Gray & Simpson, 1980).

Positive Impacts: food ; body parts are source of valuable material

It is currently unknown as to whether the Barbary sheep will become a pest like many other introduced species. It has been suggested that Barbary sheep would compete directly with mule deer for food. They might also affect the attempt at reintroduction of bighorn sheep. These two species may not survive in the same environment because of direct competition for food and other resources. Barbary sheep have been found feeding on winter wheat crops in Texas (Mammals of Texas - Online Edition, 1994).

Commercially grown and wild populations of Barbary sheep are legally hunted in New Mexico and Texas (Gray & Simpson, 1980).

US Federal List: no special status

CITES: appendix ii

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: vulnerable

Perception Channels: tactile ; chemical

During estrus, females lick the sides of the prospective mate. The animals may touch muzzles. The male mounts the female and achieves copulation. Males defend groups of females from other males.

Mating System: polygynous

Breeding usually occurs from September through November, but the timing can vary. Gestation lasts about 160 days, so most lambs are born between March and May. However, births have been seen as late as November. Most births produce a single offspring, but twins are born one out of every six or seven births.

The timing of sexual maturity varies among males. Sperm were found in one male at eleven months; however, this is probably not the norm. Females are considered sexually mature at 19 months; however, females as young as 8 months of age have produced offspring.

Breeding interval: Breeding occurs once yearly.

Breeding season: Breeding occurs from September to November.

Range number of offspring: 1 to 2.

Average number of offspring: 1.01.

Range gestation period: 5.17 to 5.5 months.

Average gestation period: 5.33 months.

Range weaning age: 4 (low) months.

Average weaning age: 4 months.

Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 19 months.

Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; fertilization (Internal ); viviparous

Average birth mass: 4500 g.

Average number of offspring: 1.2.

Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
Sex: female: 335 days.

Parental Investment: extended period of juvenile learning

This agile sheep lives in small groups of between three and six individuals (4), comprising a single adult male, several adult females, and their offspring (2). Occasionally, such as in the dry season, several of these groups may congregate, forming parties of up to 20 individuals (4). Adult males must earn their position as head of a group of females through intimidation displays, with males showing their magnificent mane of hair on their foreparts (2), and savage fights in which two males stand up to 15 metres apart, and then walk rapidly toward each other, breaking into a run and lowering their heads before colliding (5). Remarkably, it has been observed that a male will not attack if his opponent is unprepared or off-balance (5). Mating is thought to peak in October and November, with births taking place around 150 to 165 days later (4). One or two young are born at a time, and lie in a secluded site with the mother for the first few days of life, before joining the rest of the group. Female Barbary sheep reach sexual maturity around the age of 18 months, and Barbary sheep in captivity have been known to live for 24 years (2). The Barbary sheep feeds primarily at dusk, dawn and during the night, on a diet of grass, herbs, and foliage from shrubs and trees. By feeding at night, when plants accumulate moisture from the atmosphere or become covered in dew, the Barbary sheep gains much needed water, enabling this sheep to survive without drinking water during dry periods in its arid habitat (2). Another adaptation to this dry and unproductive terrain can be seen in the Barbary sheep's reaction to threats; with an almost total lack of sufficient vegetation to hide behind, the Barbary sheep will instead remain motionless when threatened, their sandy-brown coat enabling them to blend into their surroundings (5).

While the Barbary sheep is protected by law throughout most of its range, the lack of enforcement of these laws is a serious problem for the conservation of this species (6). This relates to the unfortunate fact that most countries in which the Barbary sheep occurs have little funds available to conserve these animals (6). For the Egyptian subspecies, confirming whether it does still exist in the wild is clearly a priority, followed by the effective protection of any populations that do remain (7). Giza Zoo in Egypt holds a population of Barbary sheep, which may be used in the future in reintroduction programmes. The Egyptian Wildlife Service, in co-operation with the zoo, has already identified some areas for possible reintroductions (6).

The Barbary sheep has the distinction of being the only wild sheep species in Africa (4), and the only species in the genus Ammotragus (5). In appearance, it is somewhat of an intermediate between a sheep and a goat. It is a stocky, heavily built animal, with short legs and a rather long face (2). The coat, which is generally a sandy-brown colour (4), is woolly during the winter, but moults to a finer, sleek coat for the hot summer months (2). Both sexes have horns that sweep backwards and outwards in an arch; those of the male are much thicker, longer and more heavily ridged than the more slender horns of the female (2). Males also differ from females by their significantly heavier weight, (up to twice that of females) (2), and the notably longer curtain of hair that hangs from the throat, chest and upper part of the forelegs (2) (5). On males, this mane of long, soft hairs almost touches the ground (2) (5). The short tail, which is hairless on the underside, has scent glands (2).

Barbary sheep are found in arid hill and mountain habitats (6). Within this rocky, rugged terrain, the Barbary sheep selects areas where there is some shade, either caves, rocky overhangs or trees, to which it can retreat during the hottest hours of the day (2).

The Barbary sheep is found in northern Africa, where it is distributed from Morocco and Western Sahara, east to Egypt and Sudan (5).

Classified as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List (1) and listed on Appendix II of CITES (3). Subspecies: Ammotragus lervia ornata (Egyptian Barbary Sheep) is classified as Extinct in the Wild (EW) on the IUCN Red List (1).

The sole wild sheep of Africa has been heavily impacted by both extensive hunting and competition with livestock (2) (4), resulting in an alarming decline in numbers and the disappearance of this species entirely from some areas (4) (5). The Barbary sheep is an important source of meat and hides for many of the native people of the Sahara (5), and expanding human populations have not only led to an increase in hunting, but has reduced suitable habitat for the sheep as logging, agriculture and grazing expands into the mountainous areas (6). The Egyptian subspecies (Ammotragus lervia ornata) was, like all Barbary sheep, reduced significantly in number by hunting and competition with livestock and feral camels (6), to the point where no more were believed to exist in the wild (1). However, there is some evidence, collected between 1997 and 2000, that the Egyptian Barbary sheep persists in the southwest and southeast of Egypt, meaning that the IUCN classification of Extinct in the Wild may no longer be valid (7).

Of course stalking straight in to a herd is a terrible idea, but you need to go the extra mile and do your best to appear to be walking away from the sheep. You want to walk slowly and inconspicuously. Aoudad have great vision and even if you don’t apply pressure with your movement, you can still apply pressure just by turning your head and looking at them. Check their location before you expose yourself, then keep your head down and make your line to cover. When you can get covered again, check their location again,then keep moving and adjust the stalk if necessary.

TPWD statement.

Not so long ago I thought it would be hard to make any claim that, aoudad serve a positive role in our ecosystem with the exception of economic benefits.In retrospect, I realize that this notion was a product of the preconditioned stigma that competitive consumption of resources is the only factor that holds weight when analyzing the relationship between similar species. This oversimplification suggests that each and every species lives and survives independent from all other species that do not overlap resource consumption in an ecosystem. The problem with this is that, a species is not a drain, the roles a species play in an ecosystem is much more complex than input and output. This would be like saying a farming operation is inefficient because it has too much equipment which cannot possibly be maintained because the revenue of a farm enterprise is controlled by a fixed income. Instead I would like to propose the various ways a toolin the form of aoudad may play in maximizing the utility of a specific niche and increasing the productivity of an ecosystem.

For many years now the Texas Park and Wildlife Department (TPWD) has been using “lethal” methods to control aoudad sheep as well as other “non-native” species. It would appear as if the primary strategy has been and continues to be flying around in helicopters and eliminating all available aoudad or mowing down every aoudad they see. According to the TPWD websitehttp://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/bighorn/this strategy was implemented to reduce competition with Native game species specifically Desert Bighorn.

The Barbary sheep (Ammotragus lervia), also known as aoudad (pronounced [ˈɑʊdæd]) is a species of caprine native to rocky mountains in North Africa. While this is the only species in genus Ammotragus, six subspecies have been described. Although it is rare in its native North Africa, it has been introduced to North America, southern Europe, and elsewhere. It is also known in the Berber language as waddan or arwi, and in former French territories as the moufflon.