Urial

{{Short description|Species of mammal}} {{About|the sheep|other uses of the term|Uriel (disambiguation)}} {{Speciesbox | name = Urial | image = Ovis vignei bochariensis.jpg | image_caption = Bukhara urial (''Ovis vignei bochariensis'') at Nordens Ark, Sweden | status = VU | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name=iucn/> | status2 = CITES_A1 | status2_system = CITES | status2_ref = <ref name=iucn/> | genus = Ovis | species = vignei | authority = (Blyth, 1841)<ref name=Blyth1841>{{cite journal |author=Blyth, E. |year=1841 |title=An Amended List of the Species of the Genus ''Ovis'' |journal=The Annals and Magazine of Natural History; Zoology, Botany, and Geology |volume=7 |issue=44 |pages=248–261 |url=https://archive.org/details/annalsmagazineof07lond/page/248/mode/2up}}</ref> | synonyms = ''Ovis orientalis vignei'' | range_map = Urial-map.png | range_map_caption = The range of Urial }}

The '''urial''' ({{IPAc-en|"|U@r|i|@|l}} {{respell|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.<ref name=iucn/>

== Taxonomy== ''Ovis vignei'' was the scientific name proposed by Edward Blyth in 1841 for wild sheep in the Sulaiman Mountains.<ref name="Blyth1841" /> The specific name honours Godfrey Vigne (1801–1863).<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Beolens |first1=Bo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I-kSmWLc6vYC&dq=ovis+vignei+vigne&pg=PA431 |title=The Eponym Dictionary of Mammals |last2=Watkins |first2=Michael |last3=Grayson |first3=Michael |date=November 18, 2009 |publisher=JHU Press |isbn=978-0-8018-9533-3 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

The ''vignei'' subspecies group consists of six individual subspecies:

* '''Ladakh urial''' (Ovis vignei vignei): northern India (Ladakh), northern Pakistan (Gilgit-Baltistan) * '''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)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Green Pioneers - Chapter 13 |url=http://www.un.org.pk/undp/sgp/green-pioneers/chap-13.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080703204340/http://www.un.org.pk/undp/sgp/green-pioneers/chap-13.htm |archive-date=2008-07-03 |access-date=2009-03-15}}</ref> *'''Punjab urial''' (''Ovis vignei punjabiensis''): Pakistan (Punjab)<ref name=":0" />

== Characteristics == [[File:Ovis ammon vignei arkal Pretoria 3bis.jpg|thumb|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 {{Convert|100|cm|in|sigfig=2|abbr=on}} long. The shoulder height of an adult male urial is between {{Convert|80|and|90|cm|in|sigfig=2|abbr=on}}.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

== Distribution and habitat== The urial is native to montane areas in the Pamir Mountains, Hindu Kush and Himalayas up to an elevation of {{convert|4500|m|abbr=on}}. 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.<ref name=iucn/>

=== Population === The Punjab urial is endemic to Kala Chitta Range and Salt Range in northern Punjab.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Bajwa |first=Amna Arshad |last2=Shehzad |first2=Wasim |last3=Islam |first3=Saher |last4=Imran |first4=Muhammad |last5=Ashraf |first5=Kamran |last6=Khan |first6=Arman |last7=Zahoor |first7=Muhammad Yasir |last8=Rashid |first8=Muhammad Imran |last9=Khan |first9=Waseem Ahmad |last10=Rehman |first10=Habib Ur |last11=Orozco‐Terwengel |first11=Pablo |date=2023 |title=Demographic history of the Punjab urial and implications for its management |url= |journal=The Journal of Wildlife Management |language=en |volume=87 |issue=6 |doi=10.1002/jwmg.22426 |issn=0022-541X}}</ref> A 2024–25 survey estimated 532 Punjab urials at Kalabagh Game Reserve with an average density of 8.9 animals/km sq.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hanif |first=Rizwan |last2=Akhtar |first2=Mumtaz |last3=Ch |first3=Muhamad Iqbal |last4=Hassan |first4=Manzoor Ul |last5=Muhammad |first5=Mian |date=2025 |title=An estimation of population density of Punjab urial (Ovis vignei punjabiensis) at Kalabagh game reserve in district Mianwali, Punjab, Pakistan |url= |journal=Zoo Botanica |language=en |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=285–292 |doi=10.55627/zoobotanica.003.02.1387 |issn=3007-2050}}</ref> An earlier survey in 2021 estimated 3,484 Punjab urials in the wider area of {{Convert|7953|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}, with an average density of 0.4 animals/km sq.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Suleman |first=S |last2=Khan |first2=W.A. |last3=Anjum |first3=K.M. |last4=Shehzad |first4=W |last5=Hashmi |first5=S.G.M. |date=2021 |title=Gps-based Distribution and Population Estimation of Punjab Urial (Ovis Vignei Punjabiensis) in Pakistan |url= |journal=The Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences |volume=31 |issue=4 |pages=1187–1196 |doi=10.36899/JAPS.2021.4.0317}}</ref> The Ladakh urial is found in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan and Ladakh, India. A 2024–25 survey by the Government of Gilgit-Baltistan counted 229 individuals in five districts of Gilgit-Baltistan.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ali, Hussain; Faizan Dukhi; Abbas, Khadim|date=2025|title=Rut Season Survey Report 2024–25: Astor Markhor (Capra falconeri falconeri) & Ladakh Urial (Ovis vignei vignei) in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan|url=https://doi.org/10.13140%2FRG.2.2.33889.57445|website=Parks & Wildlife Department, Gilgit-Baltistan|publisher=}}</ref> In Ladakh, a 2018 survey estimated 686 individuals.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Khara |first=Abhirup |last2=Khanyari |first2=Munib |last3=Ghoshal |first3=Abhishek |last4=Rathore |first4=Devika |last5=Pawar |first5=Udayan Rao |last6=Bhatnagar |first6=Yash Veer |last7=Suryawanshi |first7=Kulbhushansingh Ramesh |date=2021 |title=The forgotten mountain monarch? Understanding conservation status of the Vulnerable Ladakh urial in India |url= |journal=European Journal of Wildlife Research |language=en |volume=67 |issue=4 |pages=62 |doi=10.1007/s10344-021-01492-4 |issn=1439-0574}}</ref> The population of Baluchistan urials in Khuzdar and Lasbela over a four year period in 2019–2022 was found to have decreased from 860 individuals in 2019 to 534 in 2022.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ullah |first=Najeeb |last2=Basheer |first2=Irum |last3=Rajpar |first3=Muhammad Nawaz |last4=Minghai |first4=Zhang |last5=Rehan |first5=Muhammad |last6=Rehman |first6=Faiz Ur |date=2025 |title=Population Dynamics of Balochistan Urial (Ovis vignei blanfordi) in South Eastern Balochistan, Pakistan |url= |journal=Pakistan Journal of Zoology |volume=57 |issue=5 |doi=10.17582/journal.pjz/20230913153624}}</ref>

== Behaviour and ecology == Urials are sexually dimorphic. The mating season begins in November. Rams select four or five ewes, which give birth to a lamb, or less often two, after a gestation of five months in April to June.<ref name=iucn>{{Cite iucn |title=''Ovis vignei'' |name-list-style=amp |errata=2021 |author1=Michel, S |author2=Ghoddousi, A. |date=2020 |article-number=e.T54940655A195296049 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-2.RLTS.T54940655A195296049.en |access-date=16 January 2022}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}} ===Bibliography=== * 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, India, 2003 * CITES Instruktion für den grenztierärztlichen Dienst * [https://web.archive.org/web/20030622212313/http://www.cites.org/eng/cop/11/prop/30.pdf Proposal about subspecies of Urial] * Yahya M. Musakhel ''et al.'' 2006: Identification of Biodiversity Hot Spots in Musakhel District balochistan Pakistan.

==External links== {{Commons category|Ovis vignei}}

* [http://www.wildsheep.org/sheep/international.htm Images of asiatic wild sheep subspecies] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070706182212/http://www.wildsheep.org/sheep/international.htm |date=2007-07-06 }} * [https://sportsafield.com/2020/the-wild-sheep-of-asia/ Wild sheep of Asia], including urial * [https://grandslamclub.org/genre/ovis/ INTERNATIONAL OVIS] Photos of mountain sheep, including several urial species

Category:Ovis Category:Mammals of Afghanistan Category:Mammals of Pakistan Category:Fauna of Iran Category:Fauna of Ladakh Category:Mammals of Central Asia Category:Mammals described in 1841 Category:Taxa named by Edward Blyth