The urial ( ; ''Ovis vignei''), also known as the arkars or shapo, is a wild sheep native to

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

and

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

. It is listed as Vulnerable on the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

Characteristics

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 long. The shoulder height of an adult male urial is between .

Distribution and habitat

The urial is native to montane areas in the

Pamir Mountains The Pamir Mountains are a mountain range between Central Asia and Pakistan. It is located at a junction with other notable mountains, namely the Tian Shan, Karakoram, Kunlun, Hindu Kush and the Himalaya mountain ranges. They are among the world ...

, Hindu Kush and

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

up to an elevation of ; it is distributed from northeastern

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and southwestern

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

to northern

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

and

Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory which constitutes a part of the larger Kashmir region and has been the subject of dispute between India, Pakistan, and China since 1947. (subscription required) Quote: "Jammu and ...

in northwestern

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It prefers

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natur ...

, open woodland and gentle slopes, but also inhabits cold arid zones with little vegetation.

Behaviour and ecology

The mating season begins in September. Rams select four or five ewes, which give birth to a lamb after a

gestation Gestation is the period of development during the carrying of an embryo, and later fetus, inside viviparous animals (the embryo develops within the parent). It is typical for mammals, but also occurs for some non-mammals. Mammals during pregna ...

of five months.

Taxonomy

* ''Ovis vignei'' was the

scientific name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

proposed by

Edward Blyth Edward Blyth (23 December 1810 – 27 December 1873) was an English zoologist who worked for most of his life in India as a curator of zoology at the museum of the Asiatic Society of India in Calcutta. Blyth was born in London in 1810. In 1841 ...

in 1841 for wild sheep in the Sulaiman Mountains. The specific name honours Godfrey Vigne (1801–1863). The ''vignei'' subspecies group consists of six individual subspecies: *Afghan urial or Turkmenian sheep ('' Ovis vignei cycloceros''): southern

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...

, eastern

, north Balochistan

*Transcaspian urial ('' Ovis vignei arkal''): Ustjurt-Plateau (

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...

, northern

) and western

*Blanford's urial or Baluchistan urial ('' Ovis vignei blanfordi''):

Balochistan (Pakistan) Balochistan (; bal, بلۏچستان; ) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southwestern region of the country, Balochistan is the largest province of Pakistan by land area but is the least populated one. It shares land ...

are often included in this subspecies *Bukhara urial ('' Ovis vignei bochariensis''):

Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

, mountains around

Amu Darya The Amu Darya, tk, Amyderýa/ uz, Amudaryo// tg, Амударё, Amudaryo ps, , tr, Ceyhun / Amu Derya grc, Ὦξος, Ôxos (also called the Amu, Amo River and historically known by its Latin language, Latin name or Greek ) is a major rive ...

*Punjab urial (''

Ovis vignei punjabiensis ''Ovis'' is a genus of mammals, part of the Caprinae subfamily of the ruminant family (biology), family Bovidae. Its seven highly sociable species are known as sheep or ovines. Domestic sheep are members of the genus, and are thought to be desc ...

''): the provincial animal of the

Punjab (Pakistan) Punjab (; , ) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in central-eastern region of the country, Punjab is the second-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the largest province by population. It shares land borders with the ...

*Ladakh urial (''

Ovis vignei vignei The urial ( ; ''Ovis vignei''), also known as the arkars or shapo, is a wild sheep native to Central and South Asia. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. Characteristics Urial males have large horns, curling outwards from the to ...

''):

and northern

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

, males have curly horns but the females have flat horns -->

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 Dorling Kindersley Limited (branded as DK) is a British multinational publishing company specialising in illustrated reference books for adults and children in 63 languages. It is part of Penguin Random House, a subsidiary of German media co ...

, 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

{{Authority control Ovis Mammals of Afghanistan Mammals of Pakistan Fauna of Iran Fauna of Ladakh Fauna of India Mammals of Central Asia Mammals described in 1841 Subspecies Taxa named by Edward Blyth