10 Animals With The Longest Horns

Length: 22 – 38 centimeters

Only male saiga possesses horns, and their horns are thick and slightly transculent along with 12 to 20 pronounced rings. Those spiral horns are light and dusky pink with the luster of jade, the beauty that leads them to the brink of extinction. Saigas have been the target of hunting since the prehistoric ages mainly for food back then but for horns now. The horn of the saigas are used in traditional Chinese medicines, and the price is very high as well. Nowadays, saigas is endangered due to hunting and poaching.

Length: 35 – 75 centimeters

Blackbuck aka Indian Antelope is a species of antelope that you can find in India, Nepal, and Pakistan. This type of animal has a regular need for water so they prefer areas where water is perennially available. The most striking feature of blackbucks is, of course, the long spiraling horns with ridges from the base to almost the tips. Just like most animals with the longest horns, only the males possesses such horns, the females don’t have such long horns.

Length: 20 – 80 centimeters

With the nickname of Himalayan Blue Sheep, you might think it has something to do with their color. Just a little bluish tint on its fur, and that’s it. Bharals are not only among the animals with the longest horns but also with smooth and beautiful ones. The horns of a male bharal grow upwards, turn sideways and curve backward like an upside-down mustache. As for females, the horns are much shorter and straighter.

Length: Up to 85 centimeters

Here we have a type of wild sheep that you can find in both Asia (Caucasus, Iraq, and Iran) and Europe (Corsia, Sardinia, and Cyprus). Mouflon usually lives in open forested areas on steep mountains sides as well as mountain meadows. Male mouflons have attractive large curved horns, and the horns grow throughout their entire life. They use their large horns to fight with other mouflons to attract and impress the females. The fascinating part is larger horns ensure a higher position and greater dominance. Female mouflons also have horns, but very small in size while some other females don’t have horns at all.

Length: 69 – 98 centimeters

Capra Ibex aka Alpine Ibex is a wild goat species that love living in rocky regions along the snowline above alpine forests. They are wild mountain goats that have huge back-curving horns on both males and females. The horns are useful for them when it comes to defending themselves against predators apart from climbing to high areas. Their predators are mainly wolves, bears, foxes, and lynxes while smaller ones are attacked by birds like eagles.

These animals with large horns are diurnal and live in bachelor groups in herds of 10 to 20 individuals. The male and female herds only join together during mating season, and that’s it. As for their population, they were practically extinct since the beginning of the 19th century due to the hunting for their horns. After years of extensive protection, the number has improved now but is still close to extinction just a little better.

Length: 76 – 120 centimeters

The twisted and large horns, Addax is one of the targets of hunters for their priceless horns. These large desert-dwelling antelope is a critically endangered mammal that you can find in the Sahara desert in North Africa. Both males and females have horns and a patch of brown hair on their foreheads which forms an X shape over their noses. As for their horns, there are a few twists which sometimes can be as long as 120 centimeters in males.

Hunters and poachers are not their only threats, massive disturbance from oil installations also plays a part. There are fewer than 500 individuals exist in the wild today.

Length: 1 – 1.2 meters

The extremely long length is something, but the thin and symmetrical appearance is another thing that makes them unique. The horns curve backward, and the length goes the same for both males and females. The only drawback is that their horns are so thin they can break easily, but they don’t use them to fight. You can find them in semi-deserts and deserts, and they feed on foliage, grasses, succulent plants, and plant parts. The sad thing is they are extinct in some regions due to overhunting, human disturbance, drought, and loss of food.

Fun Fact: Scimitar Oryx can go up to 10 months without drinking water in the deserts.

Length: Up to 1.5 meters

No kidding, these large bovids have unbelievably long horns that none of us expect. There was this one water buffalo that was shot in 1955 with horns measuring 4.24 meters long. You can find them in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and China as well as Europe, Australia, North America, South America, and some African countries. Water buffaloes are especially suitable for tilling rice fields while their milk is richer in fat and protein than that of a dairy cow. They are also the largest member of the Bovini tribe which includes yak, bison, African buffalo, and various wild cattle.

Length: Up to 1.6 meters

Goes by many nicknames, Markhor aka Shakhawat is a type of wild goat with very long horns as you can see. These goats are one of the endangered and largest species of wild goats found across Western and Central Asia. Both males and females are gifted with long and beautiful twisting horns with great length. Markhor inhabits shrub forests of high mountains, and they live in flocks usually around 9 members of females with their young.

Length: 1.82 – 2.43 meters

Also known as Ankole-Watusi is a modern American breed of domestic cattle with ginormous horns at great size and length. Yup, they are the animals with the longest horns in the world ranking number one. Their horns can literally span a length higher than an average man when measuring one tip to another. They use their horn for defense, and those horns are also helpful in regulating their internal temperature. There are blood vessels inside the horns that help with circulation and cool them down when it gets overheated.

Fun Fact: Ankole Longhorns sleep in a circle with the calves in the middle for greater security.

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