European mouflon be divided into contact and warning calls and wailing, as well as the mating calls of the rutting ram. Just a few minutes after the birth of a lamb, the ewe utters a short, sombre, bleating noise, to which the lamb replies, also bleating. In the herd, the sheep call for their lambs using a long drawn-out bleating. Lambs who are looking for their mothers bleat loudly, almost blaring. Wailing is heard from the lambs when they are attacked by an enemy or are severely injured. No wailing sound is made by adult mouflon. When alarmed, mouflon emit a hiss
European Endangered Species Programme loss of genetic variability, and accumulation of deleterious mutations. These problems can easily result in loss of original wild traits, and in the expression of heritable abnormalities. If what was once a pure, wild population of animals deteriorates through generations of uncontrolled breeding into inferior or partially domesticated stock, then the animals are no longer suitable for any conservation effort, and the zoos have failed to perform an important educational task. The effects of breeding captive populations of wild animals over periods of many generations have been well studied. Based on these studies and genetic theory, guidelines for breeding such