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VIDEO: Bighorn Sheep TKO’s Competitor with Just One Blow

Life in nature is nasty, brutish, and short. For those living in the outdoors, like bighorn sheep, for instance, it’s survival of the fittest. Goats and sheep have some fairly aggressive mating seasons. While they aren’t the size and stature of an elk or a deer, they are strong and proud animals. During their rutting season – it gets intense between dueling rams.

This video shows that a competition of butting heads can lead to some dangerous results. If the angle of the headbutt is off, or the other sheep is much stronger, then an inferior ram could fall victim like this one. For all of you UFC fans, the aftermath of this might look familiar.

Check out the video below and see for yourself.

@handsomehansen89 #bighornsheep #ruttingseason #nightnight #LinkBudsNeverOff ♬ You Ain’t Ready – Skillet

Now, I’ve got some goats at home, and they often participate in similar behavior. Thankfully, it’s never been quite as graphic as the video above. Mostly just playful knocking and jostling around. This was an absolutely devastating blow and one that will likely set that young ram back for a while.

These animals are able to withstand some harsh weather and temperatures in both directions. Often seen walking up and down rocky cliffs and hillsides, they scavenge around for grasses, typically eating quite a bit in one sitting. After that, it’s back to the cliffs where they will chew on their cud and let their four stomachs go about breaking it all down.

While these bighorn sheep are born and designed by nature to withstand hits like this, it feels like our loser was just not prepared for the angle and power of this hit. It might be a lonely rutting season for that sheep.

No ewe is going to want to mate with him this season after seeing an event like that.

Further Research on Bighorn Sheep Ongoing

Bighorn sheep are strange animals. With their habitats in areas that are difficult to access, and some of their behaviors are unknown to us as of now, further research is needed. So, officials at Glacier National Park are asking for volunteers. There will be 45 folks that will help the park “identify, classify, and record behavior of bighorn sheep in Glacier National Park this season.”

“Bighorn sheep across North America are facing critical disease threats,” a park announcement stated. “Volunteer efforts will help test whether community science and animal behavior can improve disease surveillance and management in National Parks and other wild areas.”

Let’s hope this research can be done and lead to some solutions for this species. The bighorn sheep is a beautiful and interesting animal that will hopefully be around for a long time.