Aoudad

About the aoudad

The aoudad, also known as the Barbary sheep, is a species of caprine native to rocky mountains in North Africa and parts of West Africa. It's the only species in the genus Ammotragus, though six subspecies have been described across its range. The name aoudad comes from the Berbers, the North African people who first gave the animal that name; it's also known as arui or waddan in Libya, and as the mouflon in former French territories.

Standing 75 to 110 cm (2 ft 6 in to 3 ft 7 in) at the shoulder and around 1.5 m (5 ft) in length, the aoudad weighs anywhere from 30 to 145 kg (66 to 320 lb). Its coat is sandy-brown, darkening with age, with a lighter underbelly and a darker line running along the back; the upper parts and outer legs are a uniform reddish- or grayish-brown. Shaggy hair grows on the throat, extending down to the chest in males, along with a sparse mane. The horns have a triangular cross-section and curve outward, then backward, then inward, sometimes exceeding 76 cm (30 in) in length. The horns are fairly smooth, though slight wrinkles appear at the base as an animal matures.

Six subspecies are recognized across North Africa, each occupying its own separate range: A. l. lervia, A. l. sahariensis, A. l. blainei, A. l. angusi, and A. l. fassini are all considered vulnerable, while A. l. ornata — the Egyptian Barbary sheep — is thought to be extinct in most of the wild but still survives in Egypt's eastern desert. A now-extinct animal known as the Ancient Egyptian corkscrew-horned sheep is also thought to have been a subspecies of wild Barbary sheep.

Behavior and diet

Aoudads are crepuscular, most active in the early morning and late afternoon, and they rest through the heat of the day. They're well suited to the steep, rocky mountains and canyons where they live, and are known for their agility — they can clear a standing jump of more than 2 m (7 ft). Aoudads are also extremely nomadic, moving constantly between mountain ranges rather than settling into one area, and they tend to flee uphill at the first sign of danger.

Their diet consists of grasses, bushes, and lichens, which they graze and browse in the arid terrain they inhabit. Aoudads are able to draw all the metabolic water they need directly from their food, but they will drink and wallow in water when it's available. In their native North Africa, aoudads were historically preyed upon by the Barbary leopard, the Barbary lion, and the caracal, but today humans, feral dogs, competition and overgrazing from domestic livestock, and drought are the main pressures on wild populations.

Range and habitat

Aoudads are native to the arid mountains surrounding the barren center of the Sahara, found in Algeria, northern Chad, Egypt, Libya, northern Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Tunisia, and Western Sahara, as well as in Sudan west of the Nile and the Red Sea Hills to the east. Populations within this native range have been declining due to both legal and illegal hunting and the destruction of habitat.

The species has also established itself well beyond North Africa. It was introduced to Sierra Espuña Regional Park in southeastern Spain in 1970 as a game species and has since spread into the provinces of Alicante, Almería, Granada, and Murcia, where it now competes with native ungulates. It has also been introduced to La Palma in the Canary Islands, where it threatens endemic vegetation, and to Mosor in Croatia. In the United States, 42 Barbary sheep were released into the Palo Duro Canyon of Texas during the winter of 1957–1958 specifically to attract hunters to the region. The species hasn't yet been recorded in Australia but is considered a potential pest in Queensland.

Conservation status

The aoudad is classified as Vulnerable by the IUCN. Five of its six recognized subspecies carry that same vulnerable designation, and the sixth, the Egyptian Barbary sheep, is believed to be extinct in the wild outside a surviving population in Egypt's eastern desert. Hunting, both legal and illegal, along with habitat destruction, continues to reduce numbers within the species' native North African range.