A bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) ram patrols the rocky slopes of Fall River Canyon in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP). Once one of the more common large herbivores in the southern Rockies, bighorns are now far less abundant (though not endangered, except for some subspecies). Hunting of bighorns by humans in North America dates back several millennia (as indicated by rock art and bone fragments), but increased tremendously in the late 1800’s with commercial hunting for horns and meat. The bighorn population in RMNP is probably mostly a residual native group that hung on while other nearby populations went extinct, though reintroductions of bighorns have occurred just to the east of the park. While the numbers of bighorn sheep in RMNP have stabilized, they still are threatened by habitat degradation and transmission of diseases from domestic grazers (sheep, cows) and introduced mountain goats.
The profuse orange lichens suggest this is a popular spot for animals to perch (chill)- xanthophyllous (pigment giving the orange color) lichens usually indicate urine deposits.
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