Texas brought aoudad sheep from Africa for hunters in the 1950s; they spread widely and now compete with native bighorn for food and habitat

Aoudad (Barbary sheep), native to northern Africa and first released in Texas in 1957. (Wikimedia Commons)

A new animal can often seem like a small addition to a landscape, but things can go wrong very fast. Aoudad are native to northern Africa, but were introduced into the wild in Palo Duro Canyon, Texas, in 1957, according to a 2025 Texas A&M AgriLife Extension fact sheet. Since then, these long-horned sheep have … Read more