Ovis dalli
Dall’s Sheep live in Alaska, the Yukon and Northwest Territories and a few in northwestern British Columbia. They group in flocks in alpine ridges, meadows, and steep, rocky slopes. When danger approaches they flee to the rocks and crags to elude pursuers.
The Dall’s sheep is the only wild white sheep in the world. The beautiful horns of the male take up to eight years to develop.
These sheep have hollow hair which insulates their body from the cold. They eat grasses, sedges, lichens, moss and willow. Many Dall’s sheep populations visit mineral licks during the spring and often travel many miles to eat the soil at these unusual geological formations. Mineral licks are good spots to observe sheep because the animals are so happy eating the soil that they pay little attention to humans.
The picture of this Dall’s Sheep was taken at the zoo of Grand Rapids, Michigan, in August 2003.
Genus Ovis
Subfamily Caprinae
Family Bovidae
Order Artiodactyla
Subclass Eutheria
Class Mammalia
Subphylum Vertebrata
Phylum Chordata
Kingdom Animalia
Life on Earth
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