Overview
The urial is considered one of the smaller species of wild sheep. Overall color varies from reddish-buff to yellowish-brown. Rump patch and underparts are white, while the face is a bluish-gray. Rams have a white bib, long black neck ruff and a small black saddle spot in the winter coat. The black and white bib is a distinguishing factor. The horns are homonymous, triangular in cross section, and strongly wrinkled. The longest recorded horns measured 41.5 inches (105 cm). Females have small, straight horns.
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammal
- Order
- Artiodactyla
- Family
- Bovidae
- Genus
- Ovis
- Species
- Urial, vignei
- Subspecies
- Afghan urial, Bukharan urial, Blanford urial, Ladakh urial, Punjab urial, Transcaspian urial, Armenian mouflon
Habitat
Grassy slopes below the timberline. They rarely move to the rocky areas of the mountains.
Diet
Feed mainly on grass, but forage on leaves when necessary.
Behavior
Mating season begins in September. Dominant rams will select 4-5 ewes, who will give birth to 1-2 lambs after 5 months of gestation. Rams display a strict hierarchial behavior based on age, aggression, and size of horns. Males determine the hierarchy by ramming straight into each other and butting heads. Males are solitary throughout the rest of the year.
Hunting
The best hunting months in their native range are November through March, and on high fence ranches in North America they can be hunted throughout the year. Primarily hunted by any number of spot and stalk methods, or waiting in an area with visibility in a known travel route. Proper glassing equipment, footwear, pysical stamina, and a medium caliber rifle sighted in for longer ranges is preferred. A 300. win mag and similair calibers work well for this type of hunting. On private ranches they can be hunted by any means acceptible to the outfitter and legal in that area. Many are hunted on high fence ranches, but there are still opportunities to hunt them in their native range. Due to the nature of their habitiat, hunting this species in their native range tends to be more costly and difficult than where they are imported.
Conservation Status
Considered Vunerable by IUCN.