Oklahoma mammals

Bighorn Sheep in Oklahoma

Ovis canadensis

Native to Oklahoma

Not listed as nonindigenous in Oklahoma by USGS NAS; treated as native to its mapped Oklahoma range.

IUCN Red List status

LC – Least Concern

Widespread and abundant; not at risk.

Photo: Jwanamaker · CC BY-SA 3.0New Mexico Bighorn SheepPhoto: Jakub Fryš · CC BY-SA 4.0Bighorn Sheep - KananaskisPhoto: Martin Kraft · CC BY-SA 3.0MK00658 Badlands Bighorn SheepPhoto: John Krampl · CC BY 4.0Bighorn sheep ram standing on snowy rockPhoto: Caleb Catto · CC BY 4.0Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis)

Photo: Jwanamaker · CC BY-SA 3.0New Mexico Bighorn SheepPhoto: Jakub Fryš · CC BY-SA 4.0Bighorn Sheep - KananaskisPhoto: Martin Kraft · CC BY-SA 3.0MK00658 Badlands Bighorn SheepPhoto: John Krampl · CC BY 4.0Bighorn sheep ram standing on snowy rockPhoto: Caleb Catto · CC BY 4.0Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis)

Bighorn Sheep in Oklahoma, by the numbers

Occasional in Oklahoma 73rd most recorded of 120 mammals logged in Oklahoma

31 occurrence records

30 with iNaturalist photos

Apr 24, 2026 Last seen in Oklahoma

Records from 2000–2026.

When to look for the Bighorn Sheep in Oklahoma

Most sightings fall in November.

31 Oklahoma occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) by month of year, 2000–2026. Shows when the species is recorded, not a guarantee of presence.

Monthly Oklahoma records (table)

Month	Records
January	0
February	2
March	2
April	2
May	6
June	5
July	2
August	0
September	3
October	2
November	7
December	0

Monthly bighorn sheep occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in Oklahoma, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Year-round in Oklahoma, with recorded sightings peaking in November, with a smaller rise in May–June.

Occurrence map

Where Bighorn Sheep has been recorded in Oklahoma

31 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

31 Oklahoma records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monument	iNaturalist records
Black Mesa State Park & Nature Preserve	10
CLO Lands	3

Protected places with the most bighorn sheep sightings, from the USGS Protected Areas Database plus named mountain ranges, good spots to look, not a full breakdown, so they don't sum to the total.

Where it's recorded in Oklahoma

County	Records
Cimarron County	31

The complete county distribution, spread across 1 Oklahoma counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Bighorn sheep in Oklahoma are confined almost entirely to the rugged Black Mesa country of the far panhandle, and Black Mesa State Park’s 10 logged sightings, by far the state’s largest single-site concentration, reflect that narrow range rather than any broader statewide presence. The record leans toward iNaturalist (30 of 52 combined records), suggesting casual sightings at this well-visited park document the species more than survey data does.

Records peak in November (6 sightings) with a secondary May-June bump (8 combined), and January through March show zero records, a gap that likely tracks reduced winter visitor traffic to this remote corner of the state rather than the sheep’s own absence.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

Bighorn Sheep in other states

View all states →

Full species profile Bighorn Sheep Ovis canadensis Size 1.7 m5.5 ft Weight 58–143 kg127.9–315.3 lb Lifespan 14 yr View the full profile

More mammals in Oklahoma in the atlas

Data & sources

The data and visualizations on this page draw on these open sources:

GBIFCC-BY 4.0occurrence records behind the range map, elevation, and record counts
iNaturalistCC0 / CC-BY / CC-BY-SAobservations, photos, and audio recordings
IUCN Red Listattributed factthe global conservation status
USGS NASpublic domainnative / introduced status
Natural Earthpublic domainthe relief basemap
USFSpublic domainnational-forest boundaries
USGS Protected Areas Databasepublic domainthe named parks, forests, and refuges behind "notable places to look"