Mammals of the WorldUrial
Ovis vignei
- Order
- Artiodactyla
- Family
- Bovidae
- Genus
- Ovis
- IUCN status
- VU
- Distribution
- Iran|Afghanistan|Kazakhstan|Turkmenistan|Tajikistan|Uzbekistan|Pakistan|India|Oman?
- Realm
- Palearctic
Other names: Shapo|Arkars|Shapu|Ladakh Urial|Transcaspian Urial|Blandford's Urial|Baluchistan Urial|Bukhara Urial|Afghan Urial|Turkmenian Sheep|Punjab Urial
About this species
- Size
- Male shoulder height 80–90cm; horns up to 100cm
- Habitat
- Montane areas up to about 4,500m
- Range
- Pamir, Hindu Kush and Himalaya; in India, Ladakh
- Litter size
- 1 lamb, occasionally 2
- Gestation
- About 5 months
The urial is a wild sheep of Central and South Asia, also known as arkar, shapo or shapu. It is native to montane areas in the Pamirs, Hindu Kush and Himalaya, up to about 4,500 m, from north-eastern Iran and Afghanistan to northern Pakistan and Ladakh in north-western India. An adult male stands 80–90 cm at the shoulder, and males' horns reach up to 100 cm (Wikipedia, general species account).
The Ladakh urial is found in Gilgit-Baltistan in Pakistan and in Ladakh, where a 2018 survey estimated 686 animals. The mating season begins in November. Rams select four or five ewes, and after a gestation of about five months the ewes give birth, usually to a single lamb and less often to two, in April to June. The cached account gives no diet or behaviour detail (Wikipedia, general species account).
Description: Wildlife of India guide, Wildlife of Everywhere (wildlifeofeverywhere.com); general species information paraphrased from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)