Mouflons
The mouflon in the Eifelpark live in an open enclosure where they can climb over natural rock faces to their hearts content. During their day trip, visitors can walk directly through the wildlife park enclosure and watch the mouflon along the way. However, one should approach the animals slowly, as they are very jumpy. In the Eifelpark, the popular wildlife park for families in Rhineland-Palatinate, there are currently 12 mouflon, with the increase occurring in the herd itself. The lambs can be seen every summer in the wildlife park. Mouflon are also known as European wild sheep, they are the wild ancestors of domestic sheep and belong to the Bovidae family. European mouflon, however, are smaller than our sheep and wild sheep in other countries, they are only 110-130 cm long and 65-80 cm high.
Appearance
In summer, the males are reddish-brown in colour, the females are brown. In winter, the males are more black-brown and wear a so-called saddle patch that stretches from the middle of the back on both sides of the body. The saddle patch is also called a mirror.
The females are grey-brown and do not have a saddle patch. The legs and underside are white in both the males and females. The muzzle is brightly coloured, the tail is dark.
The typical feature of the mouflon males are the large, spiralling-backward curved horns – these can grow to a length of up to 80 cm.
Habitat
The mouflon is a mountain animal which lives predominantly in the dry, rocky regions of the Corsican and Sardinian mountains. The mouflon naturalised here in central Europe also live in forests, in the lowlands and low mountain ranges.
Nutrition
The mouflon like to live in mountainous landscapes with sparse forests where there are lots of grasses and herbs as food.