Isfahan Sheep

Esfahan Mouflon or Esfahan Sheep (Ovis gmelini isphahonica) is found in Zagros Mountains, Esfahan Province.  In winter, males have a full-length black neck ruff extending to the brisket. There is no bib. Saddle patch, muzzle, chin, throat and lower part of legs are white. The horns appear to be of two types. Those from the Mooteh Wildlife Reserve, about 80 miles (130 km) northeast of Esfahan, are supracervical or perverted, which is to say they curve above and behind the neck as do those of the Armenian mouflon; those from the Tange-Sayad and Kolah-Gazi wildlife refuges, which are within 90 miles (145 km) southwest and southeast, respectively, of Esfahan are cervical, with the tips growing inward toward the neck. The frontal-orbital horn edge is rounded, the frontal-nuchal edge is sharp. Females are similar in appearance to Armenian mouflon females. Some have very small horns, but most appear to be hornless.