Mammals of the WorldBlue Sheep
Pseudois nayaur
- Order
- Artiodactyla
- Family
- Bovidae
- Genus
- Pseudois
- IUCN status
- LC
- Distribution
- China|Pakistan|India|Nepal|Bhutan|Myanmar
- Realm
- Palearctic|Indomalaya
Other names: Bharal|Chinese Blue Sheep|Himalayan Blue Sheep|Tibetan Blue Sheep|Greater Blue Sheep|Lesser Blue Sheep|Dwarf Bharal|Sichuan Blue Sheep
About this species
- Size
- Head and body 115–165cm; shoulder 69–91cm; tail 10–20cm
- Weight
- 35–75kg
- Diet
- Mainly grasses; shrubs and forbs when grass is scarce
- Habitat
- Alpine meadows and rocky slopes at about 2,200–5,500m
- Range
- High Himalaya of Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan
The bharal, or blue sheep, is a medium-sized caprine of the high Himalaya, genetically closer to goats than to sheep. The dense coat is slate grey, sometimes with a bluish sheen, with white underparts and backs of the legs, black on the chest and front of the legs, and a charcoal stripe between the grey back and white belly. Both sexes have horns, curving up to 80 cm in males. It is 115–165 cm long and weighs 35–75 kg (Wikipedia, general species account).
It inhabits Himalayan alpine meadows and rocky slopes across Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan, typically at 2,200–5,500 m. It is mainly a grazer of grasses, switching to shrubs and forbs when grass is scarce, and is active through the day, alternating feeding and resting on grassy mountain slopes. Where it shares range with livestock its diet overlaps heavily with theirs, and competition has reduced bharal density (Wikipedia, general species account).
Description: Wildlife of India guide, Wildlife of Everywhere (wildlifeofeverywhere.com); general species information paraphrased from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)