Red Sheep

Male Red Sheep have large sickle-shaped horns, which are prized by many a trophy hunter. For most subspecies, females also have horns, but they are much smaller than the horns of the males. In a few populations, most or all females do not grow horns. The different subspecies vary slightly in overall appearance; color also varies with season and between males and females. The face is generally grayish with a white muzzle, nostrils and inside of the ears. The legs are long and slender with a vertical black line below the knees. Red Sheep have a white belly and a coat that varies in color from gray with a reddish tinge to brown and coffee colored. The adult rams tend to develop a substantial chest ruff of long, coarse hair in the throat region. In most of the Red Sheep subspecies the males also have a lighter colored saddle patch, which develops and increases in size as they get older and a black stripe, which begins midway along the nape of the neck and along the shoulders before continuing under the body, ending behind the back legs. Red sheep have large glands beneath the eye, which often exudes a sticky substance that mats the hair.