Cypriot mouflon is the official national animal of Cyprus. Cypriot mouflon was entitled to the official Cyprus national animal. Ovis Orientalis is the scientific name of Cypriot mouflon. It is commonly known as Cyprus Mountain Goat or Agrino, Mouflon, Cyprian Wild Sheep, Cyprus Mouflon, Red Sheep, Urial, which are native to Corsica, Sardinia and Cyprus. Cypriot mouflon, the national animal of Cyprus is well adapted to the new habitats.
Even though, and can be found in Portugal, Switzerland, Spain, France, Germany, central Italy, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, the Canary Islands, and also some northern European countries such as Denmark, Sweden and Finland. Cyprus’s national animal Cypriot mouflon is the well accepted by the people of Cyprus that is the reason to designate as the official national animal of the country.
National animal of Cyprus Facts—
- Common Name: Cypriot mouflon or Cyprus Mountain Goat or Agrino, Mouflon, Cyprian Wild Sheep, Cyprus Mouflon, Red Sheep, Urial.
- Scientific Name: Ovis Orientalis
Color: from light brown to grayish or dark brown, and have a white rump and lining on the backs of all four legs. - Length: Males are bigger than female, males body length is between 125 and 140 cm while females are 115-125 cm.
- Height: Males height between 75 and 85 cm while females are 65-75 cm.
- Weight: Weight Ranges between 40 and 50 kg in males and between 30 and 40 kg in females.
- Diet: Mouflons are plant-eaters (herbivores). They eat different types of grass or sedges, woody plants, shrubs and tree bark such as willow, sage and rabbit brush, and desert holly and desert cactus. They rehearse food and chew it several times to read it for intestinal digestion.
- Cubs: Babies of the Cypriot mouflon called lamb. The female bighorn (ewes) have a gestation period of around 210 days, with one to three two lambs born in April.
- Behavior: Cypriot mouflon usually lives in flocks of about 5 to 15 ewes, lambs, yearlings, and two-year-olds, which are turn to 100 in the winter.
- Lifespan: The lifespan of ewes 10–14 years and for rams is usually 9–12 years.
The national animal of Cyprus, Mouflons is an itinerant animal. They move to find new areas, which provide adequate food. The mouflons migrate during the winter period, toward the lower altitudes to flee from the tremendously low temperatures and be short of food. As a nocturnal animal, they had hidden in dense vegetation in the day time. Mouflons live in a separate group of males and females. During the mating season, they are united.
From late autumn to early winter the mating season of mouflons takes place. Males fight to prove their dominance and get the opportunity to mate. Gestation lasts around 210 days, with one to three two lambs born in April. Cyprus’s national animal Cypriot mouflon have separate names of both male and female. The mouflons are identified in different names, such as; the females are called “ewe, dam.” The males are known as buck, ram and the babies name lamb and lambskin
.Reference:
http://naturemappingfoundation.org/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mouflon