Barbary sheep
Ammotragus lervia (Pallas, 1777)
The barbary sheep (Ammotragus lervia) is a mammal of the family Bovidae, subfamily Antilopinae and tribe Caprini, in the order Artiodactyla. It is a large, terrestrial, diurnal herbivore with an adult body mass of 48 kg, and up to 92.5 kg reported.
Quick facts about the barbary sheep
The IUCN Red List classifies the barbary sheep as Vulnerable (VU), a threatened category.
- Weight
- 48 kg – 92.5 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 21 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 21.7 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- mountain, rockysrc for Habitat
- Gestation
- 152 days – 160 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1.22src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 12.9 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 2src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- By day (diurnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Vulnerable (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the barbary sheep
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the barbary sheep live?
Not recorded
What is the barbary sheep?
The Barbary sheep (Ammotragus lervia), also known as aoudad (pronounced [ˈɑʊdæd]), is a species of caprine native to rocky mountains in North Africa and parts of West Africa. While this is the only species in genus Ammotragus, six subspecies have been described. Although it is rare in its native North Africa, it has been introduced to North America, southern Europe, and elsewhere. It is also known in Berber languages as waddan or arwi, and in former French territories as the mouflon.
From the Wikipedia article “Barbary sheep” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Barbary_sheep&oldid=1374564056), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the barbary sheep endangered?
The barbary sheep is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List: it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Vulnerable species.
How is the barbary sheep classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderArtiodactyla
- familyBovidae
- genusAmmotragus
- SpeciesAmmotragus lervia (Pallas, 1777)
Synonyms Antilope lervia
Other names and names in other languages (54)
- African wild sheepEnglish
- AoudadEnglish
- AoudadEnglish
- Mountain sheepEnglish
- UaddanEnglish
- UaddanEnglish
- Turkse SkaapAfrikaans
- ودانArabic
- اودادArabic
- خروف بربريArabic
- ضأن بربريArabic
- كبش بربريArabic
- Kebsh el GebelArabic
- LerwiArabic
- OrwiyyaArabic
- WaddenArabic
- carneru bereberAsturian
- paovce hřivnatáCzech
- MankefårDanish
- BerberschafGerman
- MähnenschafGerman
- MähnenspringerGerman
- Αφρικανικό άγριο ΠρόβατοGreek
- ArruiSpanish
- ArruíSpanish
- Borrego AoudadSpanish
- Borregos AoudadSpanish
- Carnero de BerberíaSpanish
- Muflón del AtlasSpanish
- harjavuohiFinnish
- Aoudad de BarbarieFrench
- Mouflon à manchettesFrench
- עבדקן הרעמהHebrew
- GrivastiskakačCroatian
- Berberska ovcaCroatian
- sörényes juhHungarian
- AmmotragoItalian
- CapraberberaItalian
- Muflone AfricanoItalian
- バーバリーシープJapanese
- 바바리양Korean
- 바르바리양Korean
- 바버리양Korean
- mankesauNorwegian Bokmål
- ManenschaapDutch
- arui grzywiastaPolish
- Carneiro-da-BarbáriaPortuguese
- Гривистый баранRussian
- paovca hrivnatáSlovak
- grivasta ovcaSlovenian
- แกะบาร์บารีThai
- Berberi koyunuTurkish
- Баран гривастийUkrainian
- 北非髯羊Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataIUCN Red List
Relatives of the barbary sheep
Other species in the same genus Ammotragus.
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the barbary sheep?
The barbary sheep is a mammal in the family Bovidae, tribe Caprini, within the order Artiodactyla.
How heavy is a barbary sheep?
An adult Barbary sheep weighs 48 kg, with values up to 92.5 kg reported. It falls in the large size class.
What does the barbary sheep eat?
The barbary sheep is a herbivore.
Is the barbary sheep endangered?
The barbary sheep is listed as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List, which is a threatened category.
How long does a barbary sheep live?
The barbary sheep has a lifespan of 21 years, with up to 21.7 years reported.
What are other names for the barbary sheep?
The barbary sheep is also called Uaddan, Aoudad, Mountain sheep and African wild sheep.
Who named the barbary sheep?
The scientific name Ammotragus lervia is credited to (Pallas, 1777).
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
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Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Barbary sheep (Ammotragus lervia). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/barbary-sheep
“Barbary sheep (Ammotragus lervia).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/barbary-sheep.
@misc{barbary_sheep_2026,
title = {Barbary sheep (Ammotragus lervia)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/barbary-sheep},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}