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Urial
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| Urial | ||||||||||||||||
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| Ovis orientalis vignei |
The Urial (Ovis orientalis vignei[1] group), also known as the Arkars or Shapo, is a subspecies group of the wild sheep O. orientalis. The other subspecies group of O. orientalis is the Mouflon (orientalis group). The two groups have often been considered separate species.[2] Noticeable features are the reddish-brown long fur that will fade during the winter. Males are characterized by a black ruff stretching from the neck to the chest and significantly larger horns. It is found in western central Asia.
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[edit] Physical 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 may grow to be up 1 metre. The average shoulder height of an adult male Urial lies somewhere between 80 and 90 centimeters.
[edit] Distribution
The Urial is found in western central Asia from northeastern Iran and western Kazakhstan to Balochistan and Ladakh. To the east they are displaced by the bigger Argalis and to the southwest by the Asiatic Mouflons. The habitat consists of grassy slopes below the timberline. Urials rarely move to the rocky areas of the mountains. For example in northern Iran they produce hybrids with Asiatic mouflon under natural conditions. Urials feed mainly on grass but are able to eat leaves of trees and bushes if needed.
The conservation status of the Urial is threatened as their habitat is perfectly suitable for human development; however the Urial population has been recovering in recent years.
[edit] Behaviour
The mating season begins in September. During mating rams (which live in their own herds when not mating) will select 4-5 ewes, who will give birth to one or two lambs after 5 months.
[edit] Subspecies
The vignei subspecies group consists of six individual subspecies:
- Afghan Urial or Turkmenian sheep (subspecies cycloceros): southern Turkmenistan, eastern Iran, Afghanistan, northern Pakistan, Kashmir
- Transcaspian Urial (subspecies arkal): Ustjurt-Plateau (Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, northern Iran) and western Kazakhstan
- Blanford Urial or Balochistan Urial (subspecies blanfordi): Balochistan are often included in this subspecies.
- Bukhara Urial (subspecies bochariensis): Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, mountains around Amu Darya
- Punjab Urial (subspecies punjabiensis): Punjab
- Ladakh Urial (subspecies vignei): Ladakh males have curly horns but the females have flat horns
[edit] References
- ^ ICZN (International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature) opinion 2027
- ^ Grubb, Peter (2005). Order Perissodactyla. Pp. 708-710 in: Wilson, Don E., and DeeAnn, M. (2005). Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. 3d edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. ISBN 0-8018-8221-4
- Nowak R. M.: Walker's Mammals of the World, Sixth Edition. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, London, 1999.
- 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
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