Bovids and Cervids

Learning outcomes:

TO IDENIFY, DESCRIBE AND UNDERSTAND THE UNIQUE CHARCTERISTICS OF THE FOLLOWING ANIMAL GROUPS:

Ungulates, large carnivores and small animals

The Difference between Bovids and cervids

• Bovids have horns which they keep permanently and they live on mountain sides and in the open savannas.
• Cervids have antlers and live in partially wooded areas

BOVIDS

• Any mammal part of the 'Bovidae' family that have hoofs and hollow horns
• This includes cattle, sheep, goats and gazelles
• a snout, a pair of horns (usually on males) immediately after the oval or pointed ears, a distinct neck and limbs, and a tail varying in length and bushiness among the species.The bovids show great variation in size and pelage colouration.

Bighorn Sheep

• Lives in North America
• Both males and females have horns, females have shorter horns.
• Range in colour from light brown to gray or dark, with a white behind.
• Males: 36-41in tall, and 69-79in long
• Females: 30-36in tall, and 54-67 in long
• Male bighorns have large horn cores, which protect the brain by absorbing the impact of clashes, they will usually do this in fights over a female
• They can be found out in the Rocky Mountains and hot desert ecosystems
• Enemies: Hunters, loss of food from livestock grazing
• Nearly 1/3 of California's pop. of desert bighorn sheep have died out in the past century.

Bighorn Sheep - Male (ram)

Bighorn Sheep - Female (ewe)

Mountain Goat (Selected animal)

• Found only in North America and lives along the Rocky Mountains
• Male and female goats both have beards, long black horns, and short tails
• 1m in height, 120-179 cm in length, males have larger horns and beards than females
• Mountain goats eat grasses, sedges, herbs, shrubs, ferns mosses and lichen.
• During mating season, males will fight each other with their horns for the right to mate with the females.
• When their age is around 22 months, it is possible to tell the age of a mountain goat by counting the number of rings on its horns!
• They can climb hills as steep as 60 degrees
• They have magnificent fur coats.

Mountain Goat
Male (billy)

Mountain Goat
Female (nanny)

CERVIDS

• Cervids are any hoofed mammals part of the family Cervidae
• Most will grow antlers that fall off each year.
• This includes deer, moose, and elk

Mule Deer

• Lives in western North America, around the Rocky Mountain region.
• Tail is black-tipped, and their antlers fork as they get older.
• 80-106 cm in height, and 1.2 - 2.1m in length.
• Their diets consist of Shrubs, trees, Forbs, and grasses. It varys greatly depending on the season, geographic region, year, and elevation.
• A mule deer's sense of smell is up to 1,000 times stronger than a human's

Mule Deer
Male (Buck)

Mule Deer
Female (does)

Black-Tailed Deer

• Lives in temperate rain-forests in the Pacific Northwest.
• They like to browse.
• They are herbivores and they feed on Douglas-fir, western red cedar, red huckleberry, salal, deer fern, lichens, grasses, blackberries, apples, fireweed, pearly everlasting, forbs, salmonberry, and maple.
• Size: Smaller than the average mule and white tail deer.
• Enemies: Hunters, coyotes, cougars, bears, wolves, and golden eagles.
• The animal can eat poison oak without experiencing an allergic reaction.

Black Tail
Male (Fawn)

Black Tail
Female (Doe)

White Tail

• Can be found in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru.
• In North America, it lives east of the Rocky Mountains
• Their fur is a reddish-brown in the spring/summer and grey-brown in the fall/winter. Their 95-220cm in length, and height of 53-120cm.
• Enemies: Wolves, cougars, American Alligators, and jaguars (in the tropics).
• Diet: Legumes, shoots, leaves, cacti, and grasses.
• it is the most widely distributed wild ungulate.

White Tail
Male (Buck or Stag)

White Tail
Female (Doe)

Moose (Selected Animal)

• Found in Canada, Alaska, Scandinavia and Russia.
• 1.4-2.1m in height, and 2.4 - 3.2m in length.
• Males will sometimes fight over a female during the mating season
• They eat large amounts of catkins and tall grasses living in the water. They even eat the leaves of water lilies.
• Predators: Wolves, bears, and humans.
• Moose are excellent swimmers. They can swim 6 miles per hour without a break for about 2 hours.
• Bulls have magnificent palm-antlers.
• The large hooves of a Moose help clear and scrape snowy areas for underlying food such as moss, and they keep the moose from sinking into deep snow (like snowshoes).
• They can sprint up to 35 mph (56 km/h).

Moose
Male (Bull)

Moose
Female (Cow)

CariboU

• They live from Alaska, down into the boreal forest and south through the Canadian Rockies
• 87-158cm in height and 167-298cm in length
• They have large feet with crescent-shape hooves used for walking in swamps or snow.
• They mainly eat lichens, grasses, sedges, and leaves of willows and birches.
• They make a mysterious clicking sound when walking or running.

Caribou
Male (Buck)

Caribou
Female (Cow)

ELK

• Lives in Western North America in mountainous landscapes.
• 1.3m tall, and 2.1m in length.
• Primarly grazers, they eat grasses, tree bark, forbs and tree sprouts
• Predators: wolf and coyote packs, cougars, and bears.
• Only males have antlers on their head.
• They can eat up to 9.1Kg of food a day.

Elk
Male (Bull)

Elk
Female (Cow)

Thanks for Watching!