For Hub City Times

MARSHFIELD — On July 18 Wildwood Park & Zoo welcomed a new female bighorn sheep and her lamb. The two are going to be joining male bighorn sheep Rocky to start their own herd.

Bighorn ewes have a six-month gestation period, and newborn lambs weigh from 8 to 10 pounds and walk within hours of birth. Lambs are born with horn buds already and soft, woolly, light-colored coats. The little lamb should quickly learn to run and hop and climb the steep rocks.

One hundred years ago, there were between 1.5 million to 2 million bighorn sheep in North America. Now there are less than 70,000, which means that these animals are a “species of concern.” Their numbers have declined due to hunting from humans and loss of food from livestock. Though livestock are not as much of a threat to the populations, there is a significant lack of habitat for bighorn sheep to thrive.

If you would like to keep up-to-date with the new lamb and ewe or any other Wildwood Zoo news, visit facebook.com/wildwoodzoo. In addition to keeping up with the animals, you can learn more about the special events, new exhibits and other happenings at the zoo.