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The mouflon sheep lives on the islands of Sardinia, Corsica and Cyprus. On its native islands it is considered to be endangered. It is a mountain sheep and a grazer. The animal does have a voice and warns other sheep by baaing in different tones. It lives in a grassland biome and feeds on grass. It does not hibernate. The mouflon sheep is the mountain sheep that develops a woolly undercoat in the winter. The sheep does not migrate, but might move around a little to find more food. It usually lives in groups of 20-30. The sheep uses its curved horns to protect itself. In the summer months males live away from the females and the young. In late fall and early winter the males battle for possession of the females. The dominant males treat the defeated and lower ranking males as females. The gestation lasts about 5-6 months and from 1-3 lambs are produced in the spring. The mouflon sheep has been introduced into the mountains of Hungary,Austria and Czechoslovakia, and it was a successful experiment. The mouflon stands about 27 in. tall at the shoulders. It is a reddish brown color, marked with a dark stripe down its neck and shoulders.
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In the 5 minutes that I observed our animal at the zoo, it stood there and ate for a couple of minutes and turned its head,looked at us and then walked away to look for more food.
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The mouflon's habitat is in the mountains or grassy plains and its niche is to keep the grass from growing to high. It is called a grazer. |
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It has a thick coat of wool and in the winter develops an undercoat to stay extra warm. The mouflon sheep uses its horns to protect itself from mountain lions and any other predators that might endanger it. |
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There is nothing mentioned in any of my references that says anything about a change in the environment that had helped or harmed theanimal. |
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"Mouflon Sheep" Collier's Encyclopedia. 1992 ed "Mouflon Sheep" American Academic Encyclopedia. 1995 ed "Mouflon Sheep" World Book Encyclopedia. 1994 ed
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