Originally featured in Points West in Summer 2007
Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep specimens
On December 24, 2000, poachers killed these two Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep Rams (foreground) in the valley bordering the North Fork of the Shoshone River west of Cody. The poachers were caught and convicted, and the rams were confiscated for evidence.
Subsequently, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department donated these two specimens, known by local wildlife watchers as Arnold and Big Boy (or Big Guy), to the Draper Natural History Museum for installation in our Alpine exhibit which opened in 2002. They serve as a poignant reminder for our Draper Museum explorers—poaching is a crime that demonstrates blatant disregard for our natural heritage.
Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep. Scientific name: Ovis canadensis. Whole mount DRA.305.10; skeletal mount DRA.305.38
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