Circumference. 17ip to Tip. Locality.
Length along Basal
39i Punjab
39 m H i ?
38f I2i H i . ?
37i 1 ° i 11 ?
35i I0i 16 Afghanistan
35i r4 9i Punjab
35 ffi H Afghanistan
33i I2| p Ladak
334 1 4 io f— „
33 I0i 15 „
32i 10 n ?
328 7i 12 Punjab
32i io " i . ?
32 11 9i Ladak
3i | 1 10i 7 „
31 ‘4 p Punjab
31 9t M |i
3° i m „
3 4 9| m ,,
3 4 12 ? „
29S I0i 1 6g Sind
29j 9 p Punjab
282 9 10 Baluchistan
28i 9 H i Afghanistan
In regard to horn-measurements, ■;Mr. Blanford, quoting from notes
supplied by Mr. A. O. Hume, states that whereas horns of the Punjab
and Sind urial scarcely ever exceed IO inches in basal girth, those of
the Ladak sha are sometimes between 1 1 and 12: inches in circumference.
And he further observes that, judged by this test, “ the typical
O. cycloceros of Hutton is identical with O. vignei, and the smaller urial, if
kept distinct, must bear a different name.” The measurements given
above indicate, however, that Punjab specimens may occasionally measure
1 1 or even 1 2 inches in girth ; and there accordingly appears no necessity
for replacing cycloceros by a new sub-specific title.
Distribution.^ ^ rom Ladak, Zanskar, and apparently still more easterly
districts in Northern Tibet through Astor and Gilgit to Russian Turkestan
(Bokhara and Khiva), also throughout Afghanistan, Baluchistan, and
Southern Persia, and likewise in the Punjab and Sind Trans-Indus Ranges,
as well as in the Cis-Indus Salt Range of the Punjab. In Zanskar and
Ladak this sheep is found at elevations of from 12,000 to 14,006 feet
elevation, but in Sind at gJr near the sea-level, in . districts where the summer
temperature ranges exceedingly high.
Habits.— With such a wide variety of station it is not to be wondered
at that thi^feheep varies to a certain extent in its habits according to
locality. In Ladak and Zanskar it is found in open more or less barren
valleys, where it may often be seen in numbers on the hillsides, at a
great elevation above the sea-level. On the other hand, in the neighbourhood
of Astor and Gilgit urial mainly confine themselves to the grassy
tracts at moderate elevations below the belt of forest, which occurs high
up on the hills and receives more rain than the ground below. In the
Punjab Salt Range, Sind, Baluchistan, and Persia they frequent low hills
S r undulating ground much intersected by ravines and gullies, being more
generally ■ Seen igii scarped rocky hillsides than among bush and jungle.
Many of the rocks in the Salt Range where urial are common consist of
bright red marls and sandstones, against which the rufous coat of the sheep
is almost invisible ; and this local coloration of the rocks may be the reason
that the Punjab urial is a brighter-coloured animal than the sha of Ladak.
The number of ravines, separated from one another by narrow ridges of rock,
coupled with the slight elevation above the sea-level, renders urial-stalking
in the Salt Range far Bess fatiguing than the pursuit of any other kind of
wild sheep accessible to Indian sportsmen. The number of individuals in a
flock of urial varies from three or four to as many as about twenty or thirty;
and although the rams frequently separate themselves during some part of
the summer, both sexes are commonlyj>#ound in company.
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