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Bighorn Sheep (
Ovis canadensis
) Fact Sheet
Diet & Feeding
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Bighorn Sheep (
Ovis canadensis
) Fact Sheet: Diet & Feeding
Bighorn Sheep (
Ovis canadensis
)
Summary
Taxonomy & History
Distribution & Habitat
Physical Characteristics
Behavior & Ecology
Diet & Feeding
Reproduction & Development
Managed Care
Population & Conservation Status
Bibliography & Resources
Diet
Desert bighorn sheep are opportunistic herbivores and ruminants.
Turner (1973) documented 43 species of plants in diet.
Diet consists of mostly grasses (favorites include: acacia or catclaw, encelia, sweetbush, and krameria)
Also shrubs, forbs, cacti, grasses (depends on geographic region).
Low terrain and washes provide high quality forage (productive soils) and water during summer months and reproductive season
Feeding
Sheep are ruminants with a 4-chambered stomach that can digest most of the cellulose in vegetation with the aid of bacteria and protozoans.
Forage quality influences daily and seasonal patterns.
When forage digestibility is low, bighorn spends most of its time ruminating ("chewing cud").
Daily food intake of bighorn sheep in managed care is estimated at 3 lb (1.5 kg) plant material.
Desert bighorn sheep will be found 3-5 kilometers from water sources during the summer months.
Can go without drinking for 5 to 15 days
Efficient digestive system is able to utilize dry, abrasive forage
Page Citations
Bighorn Institute website (2002)
Hanson (1980)
Turner (1973)
Valdez (1999)
SDZWA Library Links
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Fact sheet index, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Library
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Email the librarians at library@sdzwa.org
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