Urial

This article is about the sheep. For other uses of the term, see Uriel (disambiguation).

The urial (/ˈʊəriəl/ OOR-ee-əl; 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.^[1]

Urial
Bukhara urial (Ovis vignei bochariensis) at Nordens Ark, Sweden
Conservation status
Vulnerable  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
CITES Appendix I (CITES)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	Bovidae
Subfamily:	Caprinae
Tribe:	Caprini
Genus:	Ovis
Species:	O. vignei
Binomial name
Ovis vignei (Blyth, 1841)[2]
The range of Urial
Synonyms
Ovis orientalis vignei

Taxonomy

Ovis vignei was the scientific name proposed by Edward Blyth in 1841 for wild sheep in the Sulaiman Mountains.^[2] The specific name honours Godfrey Vigne (1801–1863).^[3]

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)^[4]
• Punjab urial (Ovis vignei punjabiensis): provincial animal of Punjab, Pakistan^[5]

Characteristics

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 100 cm (39 in) long. The shoulder height of an adult male urial is between 80 and 90 cm (31 and 35 in).^{[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 4,500 m (14,800 ft). 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.^[1]

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.^{[citation needed]}