Mouflon – Lámanka, Kelišová, Žufie, Dědek, Huff and others

Description

Lámanka the mouflon ewe was named after the open fracture of the metatarsal bone in her right hind leg, which she suffered in the summer of 2019 in a collision with a car. Her leg was in plaster for a long time, but the fracture knitted badly and in the end the vet had to amputate part of the right hind limb. Her handicap prevents her from returning to the wild, but it does not limit her in any way in captivity. Her original family lives in the grounds of Thomayer Hospital and in the adjoining Kunratice forest. That is also where Lámanka was born in 2013. As an experienced ewe she was one of the lead females who, in case of danger, alert the other members of the herd with a hissing sound and lead them to safety. She puts her experience to use here in the zoo corner too, guarding her new mouflon family.

Her friend Kelišová is three years younger and also comes from the herd living in the grounds of Thomayer Hospital. She had a fractured femur, but the keepers managed to put the leg right, so today she can happily bound about again. During her treatment, however, she grew used to human care, which is why she cannot be released back into the wild. She is very curious. Even while she was being treated she gnawed a hole in the mesh of her enclosure at the rescue centre to watch what was going on. That curiosity has stayed with her: she enjoys watching people and is not afraid of them at all. She and Lámanka have been in the zoo corner since 2020.

The youngster Žufie came into the care of our rescue centre keepers in the spring of 2019 and moved permanently to the zoo corner the same year. She was probably driven away from her herd in Štěchovice by a dog running loose. She was only a week old, weakened, and without human help had no chance of surviving. One of the keepers took the little mouflon in and became her substitute mother. In her first weeks of life she needed regular feeding not only during the day but at night as well. You will recognise Žufie by the unusual markings on her flanks, known as a saddle, which usually only male mouflons have.

The oldest member of the herd is the sturdy ram Dědek, who was born here in the zoo corner in 2012. He has a calm nature, though he is naturally wary of strangers. He is not aggressive even during the rut, so the keepers can move about the pen at any time without trouble. He only measures his strength now and then against the younger ram Huff. They have never injured each other, though — from time to time they simply need to sort out, in a friendly way, who has the final word here. Huff was born in 2019 and grew up at the rescue centre together with Žufie. His herd, too, was probably scattered by a dog running loose, and Huff fell off a rock as he fled. He is sweet and friendly and a great pal of the keepers.

Update 6/2026 – after 14 years, Dědek has left us for good.

Would you like to adopt Lámanka, Kelišová, Žufie or Huff? The fee for one is CZK 5,000 for 1 year.

The mouflons already have these adoptive parents:

Kelišová the mouflon ewe already has these adoptive parents:

Žufie the mouflon ewe already has these adoptive parents:

Huff the mouflon already has these adoptive parents: