Do bighorn sheep break their horns when they charge?

No. The wild bighorn sheep, which make their home in the Rocky Mountains from southern Canada to Colorado, are known by the large heavy horns (weighing as much as 31 pounds [14 kilograms]) that the males grow for sparring, or territorial fighting. In the breeding season, they compete for females. Although the males charge at one another with a series of running head-butts that can last several hours, their skull is double-layered and designed to withstand these hard blows. These sheep also have a broad, massive tendon that connects its skull and spine, which helps the head pivot and recoil from blows.