A closer look at the Aoudad’s eye.

Animal of the Month:
Aoudad / Barbary Sheep

The Aoudad is a very agile climber and jumper and stays high in rocky terrain, resting in shade during the heat of the day, descending at night to forage in valleys and plains. While primarily a grazer, it browses also and will stand on two feet like goats when reaching for leaves, pods and fruit. They can withstand great temperature variations and scarce water. Generally they obtain needed moisture from their food and can go without water for about 5 days.

In fighting they butt heads so hard that they would surely get addle-brained if they didn’t possess a porous material inside their horns. The air pockets act like a shock absorber and protect them from great injury. They also possess pupils that give their eyes the look of sideways cat’s eyes. The elliptical shape is thought to let in more light during the periods of dawn and dusk. The cat’s eye is aligned up and down to zero in on prey. The Aoudad’s eye is turned ninety degrees from this so they get a better overall view of predators trying to sneak up on them.

The nearest thing to the Aoudad that we have native to America is the Bighorn Sheep. These animals, too, are having a tough time in the wild. More than a century ago they were starting to die off in a number of states. The cause now has been traced to a respiratory illness transmitted by domestic sheep. Increases in mountain lion populations are providing further problems for the Bighorns. Of course habitat loss is problematic to these populations as well as so many other imperiled animals. Today’s philosophy of fire suppression also has an impact in that the Bighorn Sheep need open areas in which to live and without fire to open up terrain there are fewer places for them to call home.

The best thing we can do to protect the numerous threatened and endangered animals is to educate ourselves about their plight. This will give us the knowledge to make informed decisions in our daily living habits so as to have the least negative effect on our only planet and its’ inhabitants.