Urial

The urial (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell; Ovis vignei), also known as arkars, shapo, or shapu, is a wild sheep native to Central and South Asia. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.<ref name=iucn/>

Taxonomy

Ovis vignei was the scientific name proposed by Edward Blyth in 1841 for wild sheep in the Sulaiman Mountains.<ref name="Blyth1841" /> The specific name honours Godfrey Vigne (1801–1863).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

The vignei subspecies group consists of six individual subspecies:

• Ladakh urial (Ovis vignei vignei): India (Ladakh and Kashmir), northern Pakistan
• Transcaspian urial (Ovis vignei arkal): Ustjurt-Plateau (Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, northern Iran) and western Kazakhstan
• Blanford's urial or Baluchistan urial (Ovis vignei blanfordi): Pakistan (Balochistan)
• Bukhara urial (Ovis vignei bochariensis): Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan

• Afghan urial or Turkmenian sheep (Ovis vignei cycloceros): southern Turkmenistan, eastern Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan (north Balochistan)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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• Punjab urial (Ovis vignei punjabiensis): provincial animal of Punjab, Pakistan<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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Characteristics

File:Ovis ammon vignei arkal Pretoria 3bis.jpg

Transcaspian arkals (O. v. arkal) at Pretoria Zoo

Urial males have large horns, curling outwards from the top of the head turning in to end somewhere behind the head; females have shorter, compressed horns. The horns of the males are up to Template:Convert long. The shoulder height of an adult male urial is between Template:Convert.Template:Citation needed

Distribution and habitat

The urial is native to montane areas in the Pamir Mountains, Hindu Kush and Himalayas up to an elevation of Template:Convert. It is distributed from northeastern Iran, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and southwestern Kazakhstan to northern Pakistan and Ladakh in northwestern India. It prefers grassland, open woodland and gentle slopes, but also inhabits cold arid zones with little vegetation.<ref name=iucn/>

Behaviour and ecology

The mating season begins in September. Rams select four or five ewes, which give birth to a lamb after a gestation of five months.Template:Citation needed

References

• Nowak R. M.: Walker's Mammals of the World, Sixth Edition. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, London, 1999.
• Namgail, T., van Wieren, S.E., Mishra, C. & Prins, H.H.T. (2010). Multi-spatial co-distribution of the endangered Ladakh urial and blue sheep in the arid Trans-Himalayan Mountains. Journal of Arid Environments, 74:1162-1169.
• Lingen, H.: Großes Lexikon der Tiere. Lingen Verlag, Köln.
• Prater, S. H.: The Book of Indian Animals, Oxford University Press, 1971.
• Menon, V.: A Field Guide to Indian Mammals, Dorling Kindersley, India, 2003
• CITES Instruktion für den grenztierärztlichen Dienst
• Proposal about subspecies of Urial
• Yahya M. Musakhel et al. 2006: Identification of Biodiversity Hot Spots in Musakhel District balochistan Pakistan.

External links

• Images of asiatic wild sheep subspecies