Bharal
| Bharal (blue sheep) | |
|---|---|
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| Bharal in Tibet | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | Bovidae |
| Subfamily: | Caprinae |
| Genus: | Pseudois |
| Species: | P. nayaur |
| Binomial name | |
| Pseudois nayaur Hodgson, 1833 |
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The bharal or Himalayan blue sheep or naur, Pseudois nayaur, is a caprid found in the high Himalayas of Nepal, Tibet, China, India, Pakistan, and Bhutan. Its native names include bharal, barhal, bharar and bharut in Hindi, na or sna in Ladakh, nabo in Spitian, naur in Nepali and na or gnao in Bhutan.[1]
The bharal has horns that grow upwards, curve out and then towards the back, somewhat like an upside down mustache.
The bharal was also the focus of George Schaller's and Peter Matthiessen's expedition to Nepal in 1973. Their personal experiences are well documented by Matthiessen in his book, The Snow Leopard. The bharal is a major food of the snow leopard.
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[edit] Taxonomy and evolution
- Chinese blue sheep, Pseudois nayaur szechuanensis
- Himalayan blue sheep, Pseudois nayaur nayaur
- Helen Shan blue sheep, Pseudois nayaur ssp
- Dwarf blue sheep, Pseudois schaeferi
The dwarf blue sheep (P. schaeferi) is sometimes considered to be a subspecies of the bharal.
[edit] Biology and behaviour
[edit] Rutting behaviour
The rutting of the bharal starts in towards late November and continues until mid-January. During the rut male bharal use multiple strategies for mating. Namely: Tending, Blocking and Coursing[2] The young are born in late June and July.
[edit] Ecology
Bharal are mainly grazers but during times of scarcity of grass they have the plasticity to switch to herbs and shrubs[3] A high degree of diet overlap between livestock (especially donkeys) and bharal, together with density-dependent forage limitation, results in resource competition and a decline in bharal density.[4]
[edit] Conservation status
The bharal is listed as least concern under the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species[5]
[edit] Relationship with humans
Many Buddhist monasteries protect the bharal that are found around them, but lately, issues of crop damage caused by bharal have started to arise in areas such as the Spiti valley.
[edit] References
- ^ The great and small game of India, Burma and Tibet, p 93, Richard Lydekker (1900)
- ^ Lovari, Sandro; Som Ale (2001). "Are there multiple mating strategies in the blue sheep?". Behavioural Processes 53: 131–135.
- ^ Suryawanshi, Kulbhushansingh; Bhatnagar, YV, Mishra C (2010). "Why Should a Grazer Browse? Livestock impact on winter resource use by bharal Pseudois nayaur". Oecologia 162 (2): 453–462.
- ^ MISHRA, CHARUDUTT; SIPKE E. VAN WIEREN,PIETER KETNER. "Competition between domestic livestock and wild bharal Pseudois nayaur in the Indian Trans-Himalaya". Journal of Applied Ecology 41: 344–354. http://www.resource-ecology.org/resources/publications/2004_Mishra,Wieren,Heitkonig,Prins_CompetitionBetweenDomesticLivestockAndWildBharal.pdf.
- ^ Harris, RB. "IUCN redlist of Threatened Species". http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/18536/0. Retrieved 2011-03-28.
- Namgail, T., Fox, J.L. & Bhatnagar, Y.V. (2004). Habitat segregation between sympatric Tibetan argali Ovis ammon hodgsoni and blue sheep Pseudois nayaur in the Indian Trans-Himalaya. Journal of Zoology (London), 262: 57-63
- Namgail, T. (2006). Winter Habitat Partitioning between Asiatic Ibex and Blue Sheep in Ladakh, Northern India. Journal of Mountain Ecology, 8: 7-13.
- Bharal at Animal Diversity Web
- Shrestha, R. & Wegge, P. (2008). Wild sheep and livestock in Nepal Trans-Himalaya: co-existence or competition? Environmental Conservation, 35: 125 - 136.
- Shrestha, R. & Wegge, P. (2008). Habitat relationships between wild and domestic herbivores in Nepalese trans - Himalaya. Journal of Arid Environments, 72: 914-925.
- Shrestha, R., Wegge, P. & Koirala, R. A. (2005). Summer diets of wild and domestic ungulates in Nepal Himalaya. Journal of Zoology (London), 266: 111 - 119.
[edit] External links
Media related to Bharal at Wikimedia Commons
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