The muflon (agrino in Greek) is a kind of wild sheep, similar to the American bighorn , which lives on the islands of Sardinia, Corsica, Rhodes and Cyprus. In Italy, it has been recently cloned (2001) but it only survived 7 months. In Cyprus, a rare subspecies of the muflon (ovis gmelini aphion) is to be found exclusively at Stavros Tis Psokas in Paphos Forest and at Platania (Troodos Mountains) and nowhere else in the world. It is, therefore, an endangered species as only 1200 muflons live in Cyprus in their natural habitat and are listed as protected species. Hunting the Cyprus muflon is illegal and punished with imprisonment.
It's not always easy to see them as they live in groups in the forest and are guided by a male -their leader - followed by the female and their lambs. I've only seen them once at Stavros Tis Psokas at the crack of dawn as they were heading for food and water. I was told that they eat wild vegetation they can find in the forest.
The Cyprus Muflon is also the logo of Cyprus Airways - our national carrier.
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