10 Things Hunters Need To Know About Aoudad

 

A mature aoudad ram is an impressive animal. With thick, sweeping horns, a sandy-brown coat, and a long mane that runs down the chest and legs, aoudad are prized by many hunters. But there is more to aoudad than meets the eye, as these animals create a gigantic ecological footprint across the desert Southwest and beyond. 

Here are 10 things hunters should be aware of when it comes to these African-imported mountain ungulates.
 

Aoudad Are Not Sheep

Despite often being referred to as Barbary sheep, aoudad (Ammotragus lervia) are not true sheep or true goats.
 
Aoudad are the only species in the genus Ammotragus. Genetic and morphological studies show that while they share physical traits with both goats and sheep, they are more closely related to goats at the molecular level, according to researcher Valdez. This means that managing and understanding aoudad requires a different approach than managing wild sheep. Both hunters and biologists need to understand that their behavior, reproduction, and ecological impact are distinct. 
 

Spreading Disease to Desert Bighorns

Aoudad have been found to carry three distinct strains of Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae (Movi), the respiratory pathogen that wreaks havoc on bighorn populations. Aoudad have been shown to carry strains associated with domestic sheep, domestic goats along with a newly discovered aoudad strain.

In 2019, the Texas desert bighorn population stood at around 1,500, near a historical high. Movi transmitted from aoudad hit, reducing the population to under 500 by 2024. In contrast, aoudad show few or no symptoms when infected.

 

Aoudad Ewes Are Baby-Making Machines

Aoudad are incredibly prolific. Unlike bighorn sheep, which typically produce one lamb per year, aoudad ewes can twin and breed twice annually. That means one ewe can put four lambs on the landscape each year, and she starts reproducing at a much younger age. For bighorns this explosive growth is problematic.
 

Mountain Lion Proof?

Over the course of more than 200 collared aoudad, not a single one has been confirmed killed by a mountain lion, according to Texas Parks & Wildlife Department Desert Bighorn Program Leader Froylan Hernandez. Meanwhile, collared bighorns and mule deer in the same regions receive cat predation. Aoudad are bigger, tougher, and travel in large herds, making pounce and chase ambush difficult.
     

Collars Show Big-Range Movement

GPS tracking shows aoudad can travel 40–50 miles, though some stay localized depending on food and water. This adaptability lets them expand rapidly across the landscape, especially when forage is limited. This is a major concern because their mobility allows them to move to many mountain ranges, including those inhabited by desert bighorns.
 

Spread By Trailer

A recent social media post cited an exotic game trapper in Texas who had 50 aoudad in a large trap, ready to be sold, transferred and released to the highest bidder. Aoudads are not spread by migration alone but have been moved all over the state and even into other states like Oklahoma and Oregon, which both have small free-ranging populations.
 

They're Displacing Bighorns From Prime Terrain

Bighorns thrive in steep, rugged escape terrain. But as aoudad move in and consume the available forage, bighorns get pushed lower down the mountain into brushier, flatter areas where they're more vulnerable to predators like mountain lions. This displacement is a direct threat to native sheep restoration.
 

Potential To Impact Rocky Mountain Bighorns

Aoudad are present in New Mexico, a state with Rocky Mountain and desert bighorns and they are also present in Oklahoma, a state few realize has Rocky Mountain bighorns. The well-established free-ranging aoudad herd in Oklahoma is hours away from the Black Mesa area where the bighorn population lives, but it is close to the Texas Panhandle, the first area in Texas to receive aoudad in 1954. There have even been a few anecdotal Rocky Mountain bighorn incursions into Texas's Panhandle along the New Mexico line. While current Movi transmission issues have impacted desert bighorns, the possibility of affecting Rockies is real.
   

Habitat Damage Lasts for Years

Desert landscapes are fragile. When aoudad overgraze, especially in high densities, it can take years if not decades for that habitat to recover, if it recovers at all. That's bad news for every species in the area, from mule deer to quail to pronghorn. Managing aoudad is really managing the land.
 

Hunters Need to Be Sure Of Their Target

In West Texas and southern New Mexico, where desert bighorn sheep and aoudad often share terrain, a growing issue has emerged: mistaken identity in the field. 
 
From a distance, aoudad ewes and desert bighorn ewes can appear surprisingly similar, especially in rugged country, low light, or when moving in and out of cover. Unfortunately, bighorn ewes have been accidentally harvested by hunters who thought they were targeting aoudad.

In small, recovering bighorn populations, losing even a single ewe can have ripple effects on herd structure and reproductive potential. 

 
?The "Be Sure" campaign is a collaborative effort involving Wild Sheep Foundation (WSF), the New Mexico Chapter of the Wild Sheep Foundation (NMWSF), and the Texas Bighorn Society (TBS).  It involves distributing pamphlets at license vendors and other areas that hunters frequent to show side-by-side comparisons of both species and promote ethical decision-making and situational awareness. It also requires collaboration with several agencies to put signage in key hunting areas and distribute videos and other information on social media.


 
The message is simple: if you're not 100 percent certain about what you're seeing through your field glasses, do not raise your rifle to shoot.
 
Download “Be Sure” brochures at this link.
 
With populations exploding there are thankfully efforts to manage them around public lands where desert bighorns dwell and to work with private landowners to mitigate their impact as a growing number in Texas are concerned about aoudad-related habitat degradation impacting wildlife and livestock.
 
And no one is belting hunters for pursuing these animals. Their popularity is understandable but as hunter-conservationists we need to be aware of their impacts on desert bighorns, mule deer, and other wildlife. There are more aoudad in West Texas alone than there are desert bighorns on the planet according to some estimates. That’s a great imbalance and one that should inspire hunter-conservationists how to proceed with this very complex wildlife management issue.
 

---

 

Contributing Author: Chester Moore is an award-winning wildlife journalist and lifelong hunter from Texas. He operates the Higher Calling Wildlife® blog and podcast and contributes to many outdoors publications.