Five offspring at the Oberrabenstein game reserve
At the Oberrabenstein game reserve, the mouflons, the only wild sheep in Europe, have had five offspring. The young animals were all born in the past few weeks. This period corresponds to the typical breeding season from the end of April to the beginning of May. The sheep is 21 weeks pregnant and usually has one or two lambs. Accordingly, the rut falls in the months of November and December. In the wildlife enclosure, the lambs are exclusively solitary.
Mouflons are one of the few species of horned animals in which only the males have horns. The females are usually hornless or only have short stumps. The males - known as rams - can be easily recognised by their curved horns, which are called "snails" due to their curvature. During the rut, the rams often fight with their heads bowed. The resulting loud crashing can be heard over a long distance.
Originally, the European mouflon was found exclusively on the islands of Corsica and Sardinia. At the beginning of the 20th century, the populations living in Central Europe today were established through releases. Due to the fact that various breeds of domestic sheep also mated with wild mouflons at this time, it is assumed that "pure-blooded" mouflon are now almost non-existent. Some researchers even claim that the mouflon living today are feral domestic sheep. Based on such assumptions, it is also difficult to determine the endangered status of the species or subspecies. However, it is by far the most frequently kept wild sheep in European zoos.
Opening hours in April:
Zoo: 9 am to 7 pm, last admission 6 pm
Game enclosure: 8 am to 6 pm, last admission 5 pm
(Registration is currently required.)