Mouflon Mouflon The mouflon ("Ovis orientalis orientalis" group) is a subspecies group of the wild sheep ("Ovis orientalis"). Populations of "O. orientalis" can be partitioned into the mouflons ("orientalis" group) and the urials ("vignei" group). The mouflon is thought to be the ancestor for all modern domestic sheep breeds. The wild sheep of Corsica were locally called "mufro" (male) and "mufra" (female). The French naturalist Buffon (1707–1788) rendered this in French as "". Mouflon sheep have reddish to dark brown, short-haired coats with dark back stripes and black ventral areas and light-colored saddle patches. The males are horned; some females are
Mouflon Opinion 2027 conserves the name of the wild species "Ovis orientalis" S. G. Gmelin 1774 in the case where the wild and domestic varieties are considered conspecific. Mouflon rams have a strict dominance hierarchy. Before mating season or "rut", which is from late autumn to early winter, rams try to create a dominance hierarchy to determine access to ewes (female mouflon) for mating. Mouflon rams fight one another to obtain dominance and win an opportunity to mate with females. Mouflons reach sexual maturity at the age of 2 to 4 years. Young rams need to obtain dominance before they get