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]
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
