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Species authority page

Mouflon

Ovis musimon · Wild sheep · Big game

Mouflon (Ovis musimon): European mouflon rams are fox red-brown in summer, usually with a whitish saddle patch; ewes are brownish; both sexes darker in winter. Rams carry helix-shaped horns up to 80 cm; ewes are hornless on Sardinia and small-horned on Corsica. This profile does not establish whether taking it is legal anywhere.

Check rules for a place and dateOpen the mouflon map

Certified rules currently represented in Hunt: coverage in development. This is coverage, not a legal answer.

Mouflon standing in a wooded enclosure
Photo by Franck Ridel on Unsplash
Scientific name
Ovis musimon
Family
Bovidae
In North America
Introduced
Range
European mouflon originate from Corsica and Sardinia. In North America DLNR lists mouflon sheep and mouflon-feral hybrid sheep on Hawaii Island and mouflon on Lanai; Wikipedia says it is kept on game ranches in Texas and has been introduced to Hawaii.
Biology

How to identify it

European mouflon rams are fox red-brown in summer, usually with a whitish saddle patch; ewes are brownish; both sexes darker in winter. [1][2][3][4][5][6]

Rams carry helix-shaped horns up to 80 cm; ewes are hornless on Sardinia and small-horned on Corsica. [1][2][3][4][5][6]

Up to 120 cm body length, 90 cm shoulder height; rams 35-55 kg, ewes 25-40 kg. [1][2][3][4][5][6]

Compared with the feral sheep: Hybrids with feral sheep are managed on Mauna Kea; the sources read give no field mark separating hybrids from mouflon. [1][2][3][4][5][6]

Species it is confused with

Check these before deciding what you are looking at. If you are not certain what it is, do not shoot.

Field notes

  • Identification Confirm a mouflon before you act. Compared with the feral sheep: Hybrids with feral sheep are managed on Mauna Kea; the sources read give no field mark separating hybrids from mouflon.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Field knowledge

Where it lives

Open, mountainous, stony dry ground originally; in Central Europe also deciduous and mixed forest, still preferring dry stony soils. [1][2][3][4][5][6]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Small herds led by an older ewe; rams often form separate groups outside the rut [1][2][3][4][5][6]

Rut in October/November; one or two lambs born March/April [1][2][3][4][5][6]

Herbivores that debark trees [1][2][3][4][5][6]

Escape behaviour is to flee to inaccessible rock faces; sight is well developed and people can be noticed at up to about 1,000 m [1][2][3][4][5][6]

Regulatory handoff

Where it is listed for legal take

These authorities list this species for legal take in their own regulations.

Where legal take is listed

Being listed is not an open season. Seasons, zones, licences, methods and limits decide whether this animal may be taken on a given day and place — check Hunt or the authority before you go. Listings read 2026-09-30.

Geospatial intelligence

Where it is found

European mouflon originate from Corsica and Sardinia. In North America DLNR lists mouflon sheep and mouflon-feral hybrid sheep on Hawaii Island and mouflon on Lanai; Wikipedia says it is kept on game ranches in Texas and has been introduced to Hawaii.

Biology

Sources

Every claim above is attributed to one of these published sources.

  1. Wikipedia · reviewed 2026-09-30

    Wikipedia

  2. BIOLOGICALMouflon

    Wikipedia · reviewed 2026-09-30

    Wikipedia

  3. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe

  4. Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology · reviewed 2026-09-30

    Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology

  5. Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources · reviewed 2026-09-30

    Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources

  6. Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources · reviewed 2026-09-30

    Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources