The Sheep are almost entirely Palaearctic and Nearctic. They only just get into the Oriental region. One of the finest species is the great Pamir Sheep, O. poli, whose length reaches 6 feet
7 inches, and height 3 feet 10 inches. The horns of this fine Sheep may measure more than five feet round the curves. The Rocky Mountain Bighorn (O. montana) is a Sheep ranging along the Rockies as far south as New Mexico, and also to the far north; they are not confined to the chain of mountains mentioned, but occur also on the mountains of British Columbia down to those of California. The horns are not quite as large as those of the last species, but measurements give a length (along the curve) of 32 to 40 inches.
Fig. 171.—Himalayan Burrhel Sheep. Ovis burrhel. × 1⁄12. (From Nature.)
Fig. 172.—Blanford's Sheep. Ovis blanfordi. × 1⁄10. (From Nature.)
Just as the Goats are often limited to islands and small stretches of country, so are the Sheep. Thus Cyprus has a species, O. ophion, peculiar to itself. This, which is known as the Cyprus Mouflon, is limited to a range of mountains, the Troodos, in that island. In 1878 it was believed that the animal was nearly exterminated, a flock of twenty-five members alone surviving. They have, however, since increased. Confined
to the Thibetan plateau are O. hodgsoni and O. nahura. Corsica has the Mouflon, O. musimon; and the Barbary Sheep or Arui, O. tragelaphus, is found only in Northern Africa. Ovis burrhel and O. blanfordi are Indian forms.
Fig. 173.—Barbary Sheep. Ovis tragelaphus. × 1⁄10.