Analysis of the social structure of wild sheep (Ovis orientalis) populations in Dareh Anjir Wildlife Refuge

Wild sheep (Ovis Orientalis) is a species of Artiodactyla order and Bovidae family. Dareh Anjir Wildlife refuge is one of the suitable habitats of wildsheep in the center of Iran. This research was aimed to analyze the demographic structure of rams and ewes in different locations of Dareh Anjir Wildlife Refuge from 2012 to 2015 in the spring (laceration period), summer (heat and dehydration), autumn (mating period) and winter seasons (cold season). The results showed that the average number of groups was about 10.87. In this study, 454 herds were observed, which included a total of 4934 wild sheep. The male to female ratio was about 31:69 and the lamb's sex ratio was 35:65. There was no significant difference between seasons and different places in terms of average number of groups (P> 0.05). The most of the species observations were during the summer (n=150), near the water resources which mostly located in Khoshumi area (n=238).